Abu Dhabi National Energy2009-04-06 09:10 ET - In the News
The National Post reports in its Saturday edition the Abu Dhabi National Energy chief executive Peter Barker-Homek says the company is thinking about making a move into Canada's oil sands business. The Post's Claudia Cattaneo writes that Mr. Barker-Homek stresses the company is not in negotiations at the moment. Mr. Barker-Homek says his company would consider an asset purchase, a partnership or an acquisition for portfolio diversification and to deepen its expertise. He says, "If you are going to get into oil sands, the least-expensive time to do it is while prices are low, so you can actually get into some good acreage at low cost." Rumour has Abu Dhabi National assessing multiple targets. "We certainly would look at opportunities, but we are not in any active negotiations with any oil sands players today." Mr. Barker-Homek sees oil prices rebounding from here, suggesting oil sands projects could be back "into the money" by the end of the year. Another state-controlled company from the oil-rich emirate, the International Petroleum Investment Co. has offered to purchase troubled Nova Chemicals for $2.3-billion (U.S.) including its large debt. Shareholders vote on the deal on April 14.