The Canadian government approved ExxonMobil Canada's acquisition of Celtic Exploration Ltd. of Calgary. The $3.14 billion transaction is expected to close before Mar. 1.
ExxonMobil Canada and Celtic announced the planned transaction in October, pending the necessary government approvals (OGJ Online, Oct. 17, 2012).
On Feb. 20, Celtic said Canada's Industry Minister approved the deal and no other regulatory approvals are required.
Celtic assets include 545,000 net acres in the Montney shale play and 104,000 net acres in the Duvernay shale plays in Alberta. Other acreage in the deal is in the Inga area of British Columbia, the Grande Cache area in Alberta, and interests in oil and gas properties in Karr, Alta.
In December, Industry Canada supported CNOOC Ltd.’s $15.1 billion acquisition of Nexen Inc. (OGJ Online, July 30, 2012) and also approved Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd.’s $5.2 billion acquisition of Progress Energy Resources Corp. (OGJ Online, July 28, 2012).