Northern frights

31 March 2010 By Christopher Swann

The stampede for Athabasca s shares is a tribute to Canada s extra heavy oil. Yet it was only two years ago the sector was hit hard by the economy. Greater bullying from Venezuela and its ilk make it all too easy to forget the potentially painful risks of another price slump.

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Context News

Athabasca Oil Sands Corp raised C$1.35 billion ($1.32 billion) in North America's biggest initial public offering so far this year.

Athabasca, which is developing Alberta oil sands projects in partnership with a Chinese state oil company, priced 75 million shares at C$18 each. If an overallotment option is exercised, the value of the offering could top C$1.55 billion. The deal is expected to close on April 8, and the shares will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The Athabasca IPO originally aimed to raise about C$750 million.

The company has said its oil sands holdings in northern Alberta could contain as much as 7.1 billion barrels of tarry bitumen. The projects, in the MacKay River and Dover areas, could eventually produce as much as 500,000 barrels per day, AOSC has said.

The company is floating the stock just as the Canadian oil sands sector is recovering from the economic meltdown, in which C$90 billion of projects were delayed or canceled.

Reuters news story

Context News

Athabasca Oil Sands Corp raised C$1.35 billion ($1.32 billion) in North America's biggest initial public offering so far this year.

The Athabasca IPO originally aimed to raise about C$750 million.

The company is floating the stock just as the Canadian oil sands sector is recovering from the economic meltdown, in which C$90 billion of projects were delayed or canceled.

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