Athabasca Oil Corporation
| Athabasca Oil Sands Corp | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| TSX: ATH | |
| Industry | Oil & Gas |
| Founded | Canada (2006) |
| Headquarters | Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
Key people | Rob Broen (President & CEO) |
Number of employees | 60 (2010)[1] |
| Website | www |
Athabasca Oil Corporation is a Canadian energy company with a focused strategy on the development of thermal and light oil assets. Situated in Alberta's Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, the Company has amassed a significant land base of extensive, high quality resources. Athabasca's common shares trade on the TSX under the symbol "ATH".
Operations
Athabasca is primarily focused on the exploration for, and sustainable development and production of, bitumen from oil sands in the Athabasca region of northeastern Alberta, Canada, and light oil and liquids-rich natural gas from regions in northwestern Alberta, Canada. Athabasca is organized into the following two divisions:
Light Oil Division
As at December 31, 2014, Athabasca held over 2.45 million net acres of petroleum and natural gas leases, predominately in northwestern Alberta. Athabasca produces light oil and liquids-rich natural gas from unconventional reservoirs utilizing horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing technology. Initial developments have been focused in the Kaybob and Saxon/Placid areas near the town of Fox Creek, Alberta (the “Greater Kaybob area”). Athabasca has a diverse land position including over 200,000 acres of commercially prospective lands in the Greater Kaybob area at various stages of delineation and development. The primary target is the Duvernay formation, the secondary target is the Montney formation.
Thermal Oil Division
As at December 31, 2014, Athabasca held over 1.18 million net acres of oil sands leases in the Athabasca region of northeastern Alberta. Athabasca’s primary focus is Hangingstone Project 1 (100%). Other project areas include the Hangingstone Expansion (100%), Dover West carbonates (100%), Dover West sands (100%), Birch (100%) and Grosmont (50%). Development targets include oil sands in the McMurray and Wabiskaw formations as well as carbonates in the Leduc and Grosmont formations. The Company expects to produce its recoverable bitumen using in-situ recovery methods such as SAGD, CSS or other suitable experimental technologies such as TAGD. The first significant production from the Thermal Oil Division is expected in the latter part of 2015 from Hangingstone Project 1, a 12,000 bbl/d SAGD project.
Ownership
The company's highly anticipated[3] initial public offering (IPO) in early 2010 was the largest Canadian IPO since that of Manulife Financial in 1999, and North America's largest in 2010 (as of March 31).[4] The sale, selling a 19% stake at CA$18 per share, valued the company at around CA$7,000,000,000.[4]
The IPO's initial success was attributed in part to AOSC's 2009 asset sale to PetroChina, divesting 60% working interest in its Mackay River and Dover projects for CA$1,900,000,000.[3][5][6]
Following the IPO, AOC's share price dropped 33% in the first month of trading, making it Canada's worst-performing IPO since 2007.[7]
Duvernay Formation
AOC's share price rose dramatically following the announcement of a $US1.2 billion Duvernay Formation acreage joint venture between Encana and PetroChina. Athabasca Oil Corporation holds the largest publicly disclosed Duvernay Formation acreage rights (640,000 acres).[8] [notes 1]
Notes
- ^ This was the first oil sands joint venture between a Canadian company and a foreign state-owned company since Prime Minister Stephen Harper changed regulations in December 2012 making it almost impossible for state-owned companies to purchase controlling interests in oil sands projects. The success of this joint venture, which is within the new rules and regulations, is encouraging for overseas investors who want to access Canadian oil and natural gas resources and for companies like Athabasca Oil Corp. (ATH), Talisman Energy Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ) that need funds for drilling and development costs (Penty, Rebecca. December 17, 2012. Encanas PetroChina Partnership May Be First of Many. China Institute.
References
- ^ "Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation (Public, TSE:ATH)". Google Finance Canada. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
- ^ http://www.atha.com/upload/report/39/01/2014-aif-aoc-final--mar-11-2015.pdf
- ^ a b Milstead, David (2010-03-22). "Pre-IPO bonanza for Athabasca backers". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
- ^ a b Alexander, Doug (2010-03-31). "Athabasca Oil Sands Raises C$1.35 Billion in IPO (Update2)". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
- ^ Tait, Carrie (2009-08-31). "PetroChina takes $1.9-billion stake in oil sands". Financial Post. Retrieved 2010-06-12.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "PetroChina offers $2B for oilsands stake". CBC News. 2009-08-31. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
- ^ Alexander, Doug (2010-05-12). "Athabasca Oil Sands Is Worst Performing Canadian IPO Since 2007". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on 2010-05-20. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Rebecca Penty (December 17, 2012). "Encanas PetroChina Partnership May Be First of Many". Edmonton, AB: China Institute, University of Alberta. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
