Sunshine Oilsands Ltd., Calgary, a development-stage company with 1.1 million acres under lease in the Athabasca region of Alberta, said it has begun a strategic review “with a view to progressing its oil sands development strategy and to preserving and maximizing shareholder value.”
The company’s most-advanced project is a steam-assisted gravity development called West Ells, where steaming is to begin in the third quarter this year toward an initial production target of 5,000 b/d of bitumen (OGJ Online, Aug. 22, 2012). A project to double production capacity has been approved.
The company is seeking regulatory approval for projects called Thickwood and Legend, with initial production targets of 10,000 b/d each.
Sunshine said its review “could result in one or more strategic transactions being completed by the corporation, including debt or equity financing of the corporation, a joint venture or other strategic transacting involving Sunshine or its assets, and a third party.”
Several major Chinese and other Asian entities, including Sinopec, hold about 55% of the company’s shares.