Whitecap closes deal for ExxonMobil's Canadian assets
Canada's Whitecap Resources has closed its C$1.9bn (US$1.4bn) purchase of ExxonMobil's Canadian assets in the Montney and Duvernay regions, it said August 31.
With the acquisition of XTO Energy Canada from ExxonMobil Canada and Imperial, Whitecap gains 567,000 net acres in Alberta's section of the Montney, and 72,000 net acres in the liquids-rich Duvernay play. Imperial, owned about 67% by ExxonMobil, will report a post-tax earnings gain of around C$200mn in Q3 2022.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
The deal increases Whitecap's Montney basin position by around 500%, brings more than 2,000 potential Montney and Duvernay drilling locations and adds roughly 32,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day to its net output. Around 70% of the total production, some 140mn ft3/day, is natural gas, with 9,000 barrels/day of crude oil, condensate and natural gas liquids.
A 165mn ft3/day shallow cut gas processing facility in Canada is also part of the acquisition agreement, which expands Whitecap's reach in upstream natural gas production. Whitecap mainly produces crude oil and condensate, but the natural gas share is forecast to reach 35% in 2023, compared with 27% pre-acquisition.
Reduced carbon intensity from natural gas usage should mesh well with Whitecap's carbon, capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) portfolio, which includes the world's largest CCUS project for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in Saskatchewan, as well as Canada's first commercial CO2 flood for EOR in east central Alberta. Together, the two decarbonisation projects sequester about 2mn mt/yr of CO2.