Conventional

  • April 21, 2016 – The Alberta government announced the technical formulas that will be used to calculate royalties and payout cost allowances on oil, natural gas, propane and butane starting in 2017. Discussion of these formulas can be found in our article of April 27, 2016.
  • April 18, 2016 – Penn West Petroleum Ltd. closed the previously announced sale of its properties in the Slave Point area of northern Alberta for cash consideration of CDN$148 million. In addition, Penn West closed approximately CDN$50 million of its previously announced non-core asset sales of CDN$80 million. It has also entered into a definitive agreement to sell the balance of such non-core assets for cash consideration of CDN$30 million, subject to closing adjustments. The sale is expected to close in the second quarter.
  • April 12, 2016 – Enerplus Corporation entered into a definitive agreement to sell certain non-core assets located in northwest Alberta, including its Pouce Coupe asset. The total cash consideration is CDN$95.5 million, subject to closing adjustments, and the transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016. Enerplus has used its 2016 divestment proceeds, which will total CDN$288.5 million, to reduce its outstanding debt, including repurchasing a portion of its senior unsecured notes.

Unconventional

  • April 27, 2016 – Suncor Energy Inc. announced that it will acquire a further 5% interest in Syncrude Canada Ltd. from Murphy Oil Corporation's Canadian subsidiary for a purchase price of CDN$937 million, subject to closing adjustments. Through this transaction, Suncor's share in Syncrude will increase from 48.74% to 53.74% (36.74% of which is held through Suncor's interest in Canadian Oil Sands Limited). The transaction remains subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approval under the Canadian Competition Act and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016. The remaining ownership interests of Syncrude will continue to be held by Imperial Oil (25%), Sinopec Limited (9%), Nexen Inc. (7.23%), and Mocal Energy (5%). Suncor indicated that it does not intend to become the operator of Syncrude.

Midstream

  • April 25, 2016 – Husky announced that it has reached an agreement to sell 65% of its ownership interest in select midstream assets in the Lloydminster region of Alberta and Saskatchewan to Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited and Power Assets Holdings Limited. Husky will receive CDN$1.7 billion of gross cash proceeds, will retain a 35% ownership interest, and will remain operator. The sale price represents about 13 times the expected 2016 EBITDA of approximately CDN$180 million.
  • April 20, 2016 – TransCanada Corporation completed its public offering of cumulative redeemable minimum rate reset first preferred shares, Series 13. TransCanada issued 20 million Series 13 preferred shares for aggregate gross proceeds of CDN$500 million through a syndicate of underwriters co-led by TD Securities Inc., BMO Capital Markets and Scotiabank. Net proceeds of the offering will be used for general corporate purposes and to reduce short-term indebtedness of TransCanada and its affiliates.
  • April 11, 2016 – Pembina Pipeline Corporation and Petrochemical Industries Company K.S.C., a subsidiary of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, announced their participation in a joint study for the evaluation of a world-scale combined propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene upgrading facility in Alberta. The project could consume approximately 35,000 bbls per day of propane and produce up to 800,000 metric tonnes per year of polypropylene. This announcement follows the adoption by the Alberta government of the Petrochemicals Diversification Program, the intent of which is to encourage the construction of such facilities in Alberta, and which is discussed in our blog post of March 2, 2016.
  • April 11, 2016 – TransCanada Corporation announced that it was awarded a contract to build, own and operate the USD$550 million Tula – Villa de Reyes natural gas pipeline in Mexico. Construction of the pipeline is supported by a 25-year natural gas transportation service contract for 886 mmcf a day with the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, Mexico's state-owned power company.
  • April 1, 2016 – TransCanada Corporation completed its previously announced bought deal offering of subscription receipts. The total gross proceeds of $4.4 billion will be used to finance a portion of the purchase price of the previously announced acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc.

Off-Shore

  • April 7, 2016 – the Canada-Newfoundland & Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board announced two Calls for Bids for 2016 comprising thirteen parcels (totaling 2,949,252 hectares) in the Eastern Newfoundland Region and three parcels (totaling 354,552 hectares) in the Jeanne d'Arc Region. The deadline for the 2016 Bid Round is November 9, 2016 and as in previous rounds, the sole bid selection criteria will be the size of the work commitment that is bid. This follows the successful conclusion of last year's Call for Bids, which resulted in companies bidding over CDN$1 billion in work commitments in respect of 11 parcels totaling 2,581,655 hectares.

Oilfield Services

  • Hallmark Tubulars Ltd. announced the acquisition of two tubular running services businesses in Western Canada: Canarctic Inc., based out of Vermillion and Davy Crockett's Oilfield Services Ltd., based out of Valleyview. These acquisitions are anticipated to augment Hallmark's existing tubular running operations in Nisku and Bonnyville through the addition of all the employees of both companies, an enlarged equipment fleet and expanded geographic coverage.
  • April 5, 2016 – Sanjel Corporation announced that it had signed two agreements for the sale of assets to two separate North American pressure pumping providers. Sanjel announced a definitive agreement for the sale of its Canadian fracturing, coiled tubing and cementing assets to STEP Energy Services Ltd., an ARC Financial Corp. sponsored company. Concurrently, Sanjel signed a definitive agreement for the sale of its United States fracturing, coiled tubing and cementing assets to Liberty Oilfield Services.

Alternative / Green

  • April 1, 2016 – Enbridge Inc. announced its updated climate policy, which includes: commitments to develop multi-year plans for emissions reduction and energy efficiency in its business segments; building on the $5 billion Enbridge has already invested in renewable energy to double renewable energy generation capacity in five years; and investing in programs that will enable its residential and commercial natural gas customers to reduce energy use, emissions and costs. Enbridge has committed to providing an annual review of its progress in achieving its policy commitments.

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