Statoil to exit oilsands with assets sale to Athabasca

Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA said Wednesday it was selling its stake in the oilsands to Calgary-based Athabasca Oil Corp. in a deal worth as much as $832 million in the latest departure of an oil major from costly operations in Western Canada.

Statoil is selling its Kai Kos Dehseh project, Leismer demonstration plant, its still-undeveloped Corner project and other midstream assets for a cash consideration of $450 million, plus $147 million worth of common shares.

The company is also eligible to receive as much as $250 million in additional payments, contingent on prices for benchmark crude West Texas Intermediate surpassing $65 per barrel.

Statoil will maintain a 20 per cent equity stake in Athabasca, which it will continue to manage as a financial asset.

The deal marks a full divestment from the oilsands for Statoil as higher costs and a lack of market access squeeze Western Canada’s heavy oil producers.

“This transaction corresponds with Statoil’s strategy of portfolio optimization to enhance financial flexibility and focus capital on core activities globally,” Lars Christian Bacher, Statoil’s executive vicepresident for Development & Production International, said in a statement.

Statoil entered the Kai Kos Dehseh development in 2007 after the purchase of North American Oil Sands Corp.

In 2011 Thailand energy giant PTTEP Netherland Holding Limited bought a 40 per cent stake in the project.

The purchase boosts Athabasca’s total production capacity to roughly 40,000 barrels per day, up from the current 24,000 barrels per day, the company said.

The Leismer and Corner project have both been approved for 80,000 bpd expansions, the company said.

“This transaction is transformational for Athabasca and establishes scale with top tier thermal assets and people,” Robert Broen, Athabasca’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

“We are pleased to have Statoil, a global energy leader, as an investor in the Company.”

Athabasca this year sold a stake in shale assets to Murphy Oil Corp. for $475 million as part of a joint venture to help fund development of the properties in Western Canada.