Statoil announced today it has received final approval of the acquisition of North American Oil Sands Corporation (NAOSC) from the Minister of Industry under the Investment Canada Act.
As of 5:00 p.m. (Calgary time) on June 25, 2007, all of the conditions to the Offer by Statoil Canada Limited to acquire all of the securities of NAOSC were satisfied, with approximately 98 % of the NAOSC shares having been validly deposited to the Offer. Statoil Canada Limited has taken up all such shares and will pay for such shares on or before June 28, 2007. Statoil Canada Limited has also exercised its statutory rights of compulsory acquisition under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) to acquire the remaining NAOSC securities that were not deposited to the Offer.
The total transaction value is approximately CAD 2.2 billion, equivalent to about USD 2 billion.
In connection with the approval under the Investment Canada Act, Statoil Canada Limited made commitments to the Minister of Industry, which highlight the significant net benefit to Canada that will result from the acquisition. These include Statoil Canada Limited's commitment to making significant investments to develop NAOSC's oil sands operations and proposed bitumen upgrader and also utilizing its expertise in managing complex, integrated projects and applying technology solutions to NAOSC's operations, all of which will increase the certainty of the successful development of NAOSC's oil sands operations.
Statoil chief executive Helge Lund said:
“We are very pleased with having received the authorities’ approval for this major acquisition. Statoil is committed to developing NAOSC's oil sands operations. We will build on NAOSC's knowledgebase and competence held by its employees in addition to applying our own expertise in going forward,” said Mr Lund.
“The acquisition of NAOSC represents a significant step in the development of Statoil's long-term production. The entry into Canada and the oil sands is an important strategic move to develop a heavy oil portfolio and to strengthen Statoil's marketing position in North America, ” added Mr Lund.
Through the acquisition, Statoil gains access to 275,200 acres (1,110 square kilometers) of oil sands leases located in the Athabasca region of Alberta, north-east of Edmonton, one of the largest heavy oil provinces in the world.
First production is planned for late 2009/early 2010 from the Leismer demonstration project. It will have a capacity of 10,000 barrels of produced bitumen per day. The portfolio is expected to yield more than 200,000 barrels per day at the end of next decade.
Further information:
Press
Rannveig S. Stangeland, public affairs manager, Statoil ASA, telephone
+47 48 12 59 78/+47 51 99 26 42
Investor relations
Lars Troen Sørensen, senior vice president investor relations, Statoil, telephone
+47 90 64 91 44
Geir Bjørnstad, vice president, US investor relations, Statoil, telephone
+1 203 978 69 50