Following its megamerger with Amoco back in the late 1990s, BP
Former BP chief Lord Browne had no taste for the tar sands, but his successor is apparently a big fan. Tony Hayward first brought BP back to Athabasca through a poetic partnership with Husky Energy in 2007. That joint venture is now moving full-steam ahead with its in situ Sunrise project, at a Phase I cost of $2.4 billion. Now, BP is said to be in talks to acquire a majority stake in privately held Value Creation Inc. (VCI) for around $1.2 billion.
Talk about seller's remorse!
This developing situation -- in which India's Reliance Industries has placed a significantly higher, but apparently less welcome, bid -- is different from the one in which PetroChina
One thing that VCI's Terre de Grace project has in common with AOSC's projects is size. As discussed in my look at Gulfport Energy's
Given the level of financial distress involved, I have to say that $1.2 billion for a controlling stake hardly seems like a knockdown purchase price. It's possible that BP has recognized potential well beyond VCI's limited public disclosures, however. We'll learn a lot more about the assets involved if BP does indeed go through with the deal.