EQUINOR DIVESTS STAKE IN OILSANDS’ ATHABASCA OIL

Norway’s Equinor said Wednesday it sold its stake in Calgary-based oilsands producer Athabasca Oil. Majority state-owned Equinor sold 100 million shares, representing an 18.8 per cent stake in Athabasca for $18 million. Equinor, formerly Statoil, received the shares in 2017 as part of a deal to sell its Kai Kos dehseh oilsands project in Alberta. “This was just a financial holding that was part of the deal when we exited... We have no other interests onshore Canada now,” an Equinor spokesman said. Athabasca produced 20,200 barrels per day of oilsands crude in the third-quarter of 2020, about two-thirds of its total output, according to regulatory filings. In 2017, Equinor pledged not to invest in oilsands, production of which requires more energy than conventional production and thus resulting in higher greenhouse gas emissions.