The de-rating of Rio Tinto for example, has opened up a value arbitrage and is now "well into leveraged buyout territory," according to Citigroup analyst Heath Jansen.Rio Tinto stock traded down in Australia despite the speculation.
"Rio stands out as a potential acquisition candidate, either by private equity or the incumbent mining companies," he said in a note to clients.
Alex Archila, former head of Chevron Canada has been running Madagascar Oil since July 2006.
Chevron, one of the largest integrated energy companies in the world, may be looking at plans to further expand its business in Singapore.
"An open acreage policy will be much more attractive to us as we can choose the time of entering India’s exploration sector, and also choose the blocks we want to explore," a senior Shell official said.
Shell, like British Petroleum, Chevron, Exxon, Petrobras and Total, did not bid for exploration blocks in earlier NELP rounds.
The timing, to offer the auction of exploration blocks in India in June or July, does not suit most oil companies as they have already put in their capital expenditure on exploration into other areas across the world, the Shell official said.
"By July, we have already put in our annual planned expenditure for exploration in projects. That is one of the reasons why we are not able to bid in the auction in India," said an official of British Gas, which won one exploration block in NELP VI, in partnership with ONGC.
Government officials say the launch of the OALP is slated to take place soon. "We are working towards offering the open acreage policy together with NELP VII. However, that would involve lot of work as data for areas across the country have to be collected," an official at the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons said.
There just won't be any quotas under the control of the provincial government and Tom Rideout, right.
Williams had a genuine desire to lift Newfoundland out of its second-class morass when he was first elected. Having encountered all the usual obstacles along the way, however, he has become increasingly volatile. This is regrettable, since it gives the ever-present gallery of negative nellies ample opportunity to shift focus away from the issues and onto the person.There are those of us who would contend that the volatile and hostile rhetoric has been present from the outset. As for the personal, well, that's what the man himself chooses to make the focus of everything. Those who have criticised him personally simply fall into the trap of the Premier's own rhetoric, which is calculated to avoid a discussion of the issues themselves and more particularly whether or not the Premier's approach is the appropriate one.
In fact, the majority of the flights on privately hired planes don't show up anywhere in Mr. Blackburn's public disclosure of ministerial travel and were only revealed through an Access to Information request by NDP researchers.
Even as people leave the province in large numbers to make a living they can't find locally, they support his bashing of outside interests, whether its big oil companies or the federal government, because he stands up for Newfoundland. They buy into Mr. Williams' claim that the government negotiated a bad deal on Hibernia and now must ensure the government takes a fair cut from future projects.As an interesting addition to that comment, check out Greg Locke's most recent blog entry. Locke is a professional photographer and journalist - as well as an avowed Newfoundland nationalist - who recently left the province to take up a management job with a string of Alberta weeklies.
Mr. Gibbons, who signed the Hibernia deal nearly 17 years ago in an environment of low oil prices and greater risk, said it was a huge leap for the province.
"It's the deal that gave us the industry that we have today," he said.
After a decade with Jacques Whitford, Mr. Gibbons retired yesterday, but his interest in a thriving offshore hasn't diminished.
"Please, get at the table and negotiate, and let's get on with the next projects," he pleaded.
"We are going to lose the skilled people that are required even for the construction part. Today, they are flying to Alberta and flying back home. But in five years' time, they may move the spouse and the kids will do their education there. Then they might never come back."
Of my conversations so far with the Newfoundlanders, I'm hearing the "politically correct" phrases about returning to but it's not said with much enthusiasm. No mourning or homesickness to be heard. It's lacking that convincing little flutter in the voice. Indeed, those who have a decent paying job here are looking pretty happy. The flags may be flying proud but they are not ready to sacrifice their livelihoods or future to return to Newfoundland .Locke's also got some observations on the Alberta government's royalty regime and its tax policy for those in this province who harbour more than a few delusions about how this province supposedly has signed bad oil development deals in the past or how this province is treated unfairly compared to Alberta.
Williams has made the same claim on several occasions since talks collapsed last April but there is no objective evidence the talks are occurring.
Williams has also claimed that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has committed to a loan guarantee on the Lower Churchill. Harper has said nothing of the sort publicly. His written commitments - used by Williams in the current Equalization row - merely talk of a commitment to talks aimed at exploring possible support in the spirit of Hibernia.
Seismic surveys are used to map what lies beneath the ocean floor. Waves of compressed air are shot toward the seabed, and the signal reflected back creates an image of rocks and pools of oil and gas that are found kilometres below the ocean floor.The Conoco land parcels are in water as much as 2,200 metres deep but only as shallow as 1100 metres. That puts them on par with the Orphan Basin and large portions of the Gulf of Mexico where the Jack 2 field was recently discovered. Even if commercial quantities of oil and gas are confirmed, the water depth involved would pose a challenge for current technology to exploit profitably.
In the case of the Laurentian surveys, the pulse bounced back multiple times and the images were unclear. What might have taken 10 months to evaluate took 18 months to clean up the images.
"The Laurentian Basin is an absolute frontier basin. There are no wells in the deepwater portion of that basin," said Hogg. "We are in our infancy in understanding the basin."
the company will continue to work with the province as it develops the royalty regime.Premier Danny Williams told the Financial Post in an interview on Friday that the provincial government is working on a new oil and gas royalty regime. Key components of both will be a so-called "equity" position for the provincial government through its Hydro corporation.
"That being said, it is important to us to have the royalty (regime) before we drill the well."
Mr. Williams said the energy policy will require provincial equity stakes in both future oil and gas projects, but wouldn't reveal how much, other than it will be higher than the 4.9% negotiated for Hebron.Unconfirmed reports put the equity demand at 10%. That could mean little to Husky, which is seeking to develop gas prospects on its White Rose project and which would be grandfathered through the equity provisions of the regime.
It will also include a natural gas royalty regime, which has also been expected for years, and cover environmental requirements and the electricity industry.
The gas regime has been completed and has been shared for feedback with Husky and ConocoPhillips Co., Mr. Williams said.
And if that wasn't enough, there's Don Martin's take:Even if Mr. Williams disagrees with all this, he is at the very least guilty of coming off as a bumptious blowhard. It is unusual enough for a provincial premier to campaign against a sitting federal government (most confine themselves to championing federal candidates from their own party within their province), but it is unprecedented for a premier to advocate nationally for the defeat of a government in Ottawa of his own party.
This is not a sign of how bad the Harper government has treated Newfoundland. Rather, Mr. Williams’ latest outrageous proposals are a sign that he has become a captive to his own bluster. He has gone to this well so often, that each dip must be bigger and splashier than they last, until now he has no credibility left.
Of course, there's a wingnut factor to be factored into any Williams damage assessments.
This is, after all, the premier who yanked down Canadian flags in protest, howled at Paul Martin with identical vitriol and stormed out of his first First Ministers conference with little provocation.
Williams makes the point that Newfoundland is on the verge of achieving economic independence, an overdue prosperity from offshore oil that could be short-lived.
Clearly the needs of the personal trumps the partisan and the public policy. This is amateur politics.
Labrador's hydroelectric project is fated to be a failure, says analyst
Monday, March 9, 1998
by Michelle MacAfee, Canadian Press
A new hydroelectric project in Labrador would be "economic craziness" for the Newfoundland and Quebec governments, as well as for Ottawa which is being asked to provide up to $2 billion, says a national energy watchdog.
"This deal has the makings of a major financial mistake," said Tom Adams of Energy Probe, a consumer and environmental lobby group.
"It will be generating high-cost power at a time when we are coming into a glut of low-cost power."
Newfoundland Premier Brian Tobin meets today with Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard in this small Labrador town to outline how formal negotiations will proceed on a second power project on the Churchill River.
It's believed the negotiations will be framed around a $12-billion development that includes the construction of two dams and a $2-billion, 800-megawatt transmission line to the island portion of Newfoundland. Power would flow by 2007.
A source close to the project said the $12-billion plan will involve a large hydraulic generating station about three-fifths the size of Churchill Falls that will be built downriver closer to Goose Bay.
The source said two additional units will be built, increasing the station by about one-fifth, and some major water diversion dams will be built in Quebec to bring more water into Churchill Falls.
Even with few of the details announced, Adams says such a massive undertaking is simply not feasible given the current market and expectations for the future.
Small, local power stations throughout Quebec, Ontario and the northeastern United States would be able to produce power at about half the cost -- and with less risk of transmission problems -- of their Churchill competitor, Adams said from Toronto.
Newfoundland and Quebec are out of step with international power players, who are trying to reduce their exposure to financial risk, he added.
"They would have to cut their costs by about half to make this deal even start to appear attractive enough to be worth talking about."
Newfoundland Energy Minister Chuck Furey countered that two important external factors helped make this the perfect time for such a mammoth power project:
-- a hydroelectric project the size of the Lower Churchill would push the Canadian government as much as 20 per cent closer to meeting its international commitment to reduce greenhouse gases.
-- the American power market was recently deregulated, which is expected to make the industry more open.
"As you see a displacement of old forms of energy based on new-world realities, the new power entering the marketplace will be received in a very timely, very positive and very competitive way," said Furey.
At the heart of any new deal is the $2-billion transmission line. Among other things, the line would provide power to a nickel smelter expected to be built on the island by Inco.
Tobin has said he is seeking the federal government's help, and a source within the provincial government said today's announcement will include a commitment from Ottawa to at least formally explore the issue.
It could be a tough sell, however.
Some fear Newfoundland could be seen as getting more than its share of federal dollars, since it is also seeking continued aid for unemployed fishermen.
Added to that is a continued reluctance by government to invest in so-called megaprojects.
Adams said such an investment of federal tax dollars would be terrible and unnecessary because the island of Newfoundland has enough power sources without the underwater link.
"If the province was offered $2 billion for a transmission line or $1 billion for schools and hospitals, I'd take the $1 billion because it's worth more in cash than a transmission line," said Adams.
For Newfoundland, no economic study of a Lower Churchill deal would be complete without looking at the mistakes that were made negotiating the first project, located further upstream at Churchill Falls.
Under a deal signed in 1969 that did not include a price-escalation clause, Quebec continues to buy electricity at cheap prices and then sell it at a profit to the United States.
The issue has united Newfoundlanders in fierce patriotism as government after government tried and failed to renegotiate the deal.
Furey said this deal being negotiated must produce "unbalanced benefits" in favor of Newfoundland as compensation.
However, he added that both provincial economies will benefit from job creation and increased revenues.
The original release is here.Bragg Communications Inc. and Persona Communications Corp. announced on Friday that a purchase and sale agreement has been signed which will result in Bragg Communications acquiring Persona.
With more than 260,000 customers, Persona provides communications services to customers throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec and Newfoundland & Labrador.
Bragg Communications co-CEOs Dan McKeen and Lee Bragg expressed their enthusiasm in concluding this agreement. "This purchase represents an opportunity to significantly grow our business, to build upon our success as a telecommunications and entertainment company, and to work with the management and employees of Persona."
The transaction, according to the Friday press release, establishes Bragg Communications as the largest privately held cable and communications company in Canada, and the only cable provider operating systems in all 10 provinces.
The agreement to purchase the shares of Persona is subject to regulatory approval.
Persona is currently held by a consortium of private equity funds including HM Capital Partners, Birch Hill Equity Partners and CIBC Capital Partners. CIBC World Markets Inc. served as financial advisor to Persona.
Persona provides digital TV, hi-speed Internet and telecom services to residential and commercial customers in non-urban communities throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec and Newfoundland & Labrador.
Financial terms of the agreement will not be disclosed.
It's not separation that we crave, but respect. Self-respect builds self-confidence, self-determination, and self-reliance, economically and socially.
Debbie Hanlon, real estate entrepreneur
John Crosbie
Dr. Raymond Blake, historian, University of Saskatchewan
