About 90 per
cent of Canada’s technically recoverable oil resources are oil sands bitumen,
of which half is economically recoverable with existing technologies. Many
technological and economic challenges have been overcome to produce and
transport bitumen and to refine it into products such as gasoline and diesel
fuel.
Blakes has been
involved in a significant number of oil sands acquisitions and divestitures. We
have an established track record in structuring investments and developing,
implementing and financing joint venture and project plans. Our top-ranked Competition
& Antitrust practice has unparalleled experience in representing clients
before the Canadian Competition Bureau in domestic and cross-border mergers.
This combination, along with industry knowledge gained in serving a first-rate
client base, allows us to efficiently and effectively provide sound, strategic,
practical and comprehensive advice to assist our clients in achieving optimal
commercial results.
In conjunction
with a thorough understanding of the legal environment in which the oil sands
industry operates, our multidisciplinary team of lawyers has a long tradition
of excellence in mergers and acquisitions, tax, competition law, securities,
financing, labour and employment, real estate, technology, litigation, and
insolvency.
Representative Matters
- TransCanada Corporation on the establishment of its partnership
with Phoenix Energy Holdings Limited for the construction and operation of the
C$3-billion Grand Rapids Pipeline System.
- SilverBirch Energy Corporation on its acquisition by Teck Resources
Limited valued at C$435-million.
- Suncor Energy Inc. on its strategic merger with Petro-Canada.
- Suncor Energy Inc. on its joint venture and purchase
arrangements with Total E&P Canada Ltd., wherein Total paid Suncor a net
C$1.75-billion. Total received a 19-per-cent stake in Suncor’s piece of the
Fort Hills oil sands project in Alberta and a 49-per-cent stake in a
Suncor-operated Voyageur (U3) upgrader. In turn, Suncor acquired Total’s 37-per-cent
stake in a second Alberta project, the Joslyn project. The deal was recently
referred to as “one of the most complex oil sands joint ventures in recent
years” by The American Lawyer
magazine.
- Suncor Energy Inc. on the negotiation, execution and delivery
of a series of engineering, procurement and construction agreements for the
Voyager oil sands project.
- Enerplus Resources Fund on its proposed C$7.6-billion strategic
business combination with Focus Energy Trust, its C$182.5-million acquisition
of Kirby Oil Sands Partnership, its participation in the Joslyn lease project,
its development of the Kirby oil sands steam-assisted gravity drainage project,
and the sale of its 100-per-cent working interest in the Kirby oil sands lease
for gross proceeds of C$405-million.
- China’s
Sinopec International Petroleum
Exploration and Production Corporation (SINOPEC) on its US$4.65-billion
purchase of ConocoPhillips’ interest in the Syncrude joint venture. The
Syncrude joint venture is the largest oil sands venture in the world, which
includes surface mining, extraction and upgrading.
- SINOPEC, through its subsidiary SinoCanada Petroleum
Corporation, on the negotiation of its C$105-million purchase of an interest in
the Northern Lights oil sands project in northeastern Alberta. With a design
capacity of more than 100,000 barrels per day of synthetic crude oil, the
project costs over a five-year period are estimated at C$4.5-billion.
- Acquisition
by Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil of Alberta Oil Sands Lease
Nos. 421, 022 and 023 from UTS Energy Corporation.
- Dover Operating Corp. and MacKay
Operating Corp. with respect to operating the Dover and MacKay oil sands
joint venture assets.
- Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production
Company on its US$2.28‑billion
acquisition of a 40-per-cent partnership interest in Statoil Canada
Partnership, whose main asset is the Kai Kos Dehseh oil sands project in
Alberta and the subsequent negotiation of a joint venture agreement with
Statoil Canada Ltd. This is a significant transaction as it marks the first
foray of Thailand into the Canadian oil sands.
- UTS Energy Corporation, a Canadian oil sands developer, in
connection with the sale of UTS Energy (the Fort Hills project) to Total S.A.
for C$1.75-billion. In addition to the sale of UTS, the transaction involved
the creation of a new public Canadian company and the transfer of certain UTS
oil sands assets to that new spinoff company.
- Represented
Husky Energy Inc. and supported its
partner, BP Canada, in the
negotiation, execution and delivery of a series of transportation and
terminalling agreements for the transport of diluent and dilbit to and away
from the Sunrise oil sands project.
- Nexen Inc. on its C$15.1-billion acquisition by CNOOC Limited.
- The
underwriting syndicate on the initial public offering of Athabasca Oil Sands
Corporation for total proceeds of C$1.35‑billion.
- The
underwriting syndicate on the initial public offering of MEG Energy Corp. for
total proceeds of C$700-million.
- UTS Energy Corporation on the C$250‑million divestiture to
Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil of UTS’s 50-per-cent working interest in several Alberta
oil sands leases located east of the Firebag River in northeastern Alberta.