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CALGARY - Opti Canada Inc., needs to show some progress at its underperforming oilsands project if its shares — down a hefty 93 per cent over the past year — are going to recover lost ground.
The company, which holds a 35 per cent stake in Nexen Inc.`s $6.1-billion Long Lake oilsands project, has had a rough year, with a long list of woes that pummeled its stock.
Those troubles included plunging oil prices, which caused once-optimistic investors to doubt the earnings power of the pure-play oilsands company. As well, in December, it was forced to sell a 15 per cent stake in the project to Nexen, raising $735 million to avoid breaching debt covenants, and cutting its holding in Long Lake from 50 per cent.
Earlier this year, Opti was incorrectly named in media reports as the subject of rumours in a trading scandal. And last month, the company diluted its outstanding shares by half in an equity issue that was initially nixed by the Toronto Stock Exchange because the new shares were priced too low.
The raft of troubles has combined with a slow start to production for the first phase at Long Lake. Technologically innovative, the project has struggled to boost the output of tar-like bitumen to its 70,000-barrel-per-day goal.
Read the full article here.
The company, which holds a 35 per cent stake in Nexen Inc.`s $6.1-billion Long Lake oilsands project, has had a rough year, with a long list of woes that pummeled its stock.
Those troubles included plunging oil prices, which caused once-optimistic investors to doubt the earnings power of the pure-play oilsands company. As well, in December, it was forced to sell a 15 per cent stake in the project to Nexen, raising $735 million to avoid breaching debt covenants, and cutting its holding in Long Lake from 50 per cent.
Earlier this year, Opti was incorrectly named in media reports as the subject of rumours in a trading scandal. And last month, the company diluted its outstanding shares by half in an equity issue that was initially nixed by the Toronto Stock Exchange because the new shares were priced too low.
The raft of troubles has combined with a slow start to production for the first phase at Long Lake. Technologically innovative, the project has struggled to boost the output of tar-like bitumen to its 70,000-barrel-per-day goal.
Read the full article here.