Cnooc To Buy Opti Canada For $2.1B

Cnooc CEO, China's largest offshore oil exploration firm, announced it will increase its footprint in Canada's oil sands region with a $2.1 billion deal to acquire bankrupt Opti Canada. The deal is structured in cash and debt. The cash component includes $34 billio while Cnooc will pay $1.8 billion to buy some Opti Canada notes and assume $825 million in debt. Opti Canada's main asset is its 35 percent stake in the Long Lake project operated by Nexen Inc. and it has investments in three other project areas located in the Athabasca region of northeastern, according to Bloomberg News. Cnooc acquired a stake in an oil sands project in 2005 and Chinese oil producers have been looking to boost their exposure to the region in a bid to meet China's soaring energy demands. Canada's oil sands region is believed to be home to the world's largest oil reserves outside of Saudi Arabia. Sinopec SNP, China's second-largest oil company, paid $4.65 billion last year to buy a stake in Syncrude Canada Ltd., which produces bitumen from Alberta oil-sands projects, Bloomberg reported.