OGFJ partners with CanOils to offer data, analysis on Canadian firms
Richard Krijgsman, CanOils, London
OGFJ has teamed up with CanOils, Canada’s independent provider of oil and gas company information and analysis, to create the OGFJ Canadian 100. This report contains information from the CanOils database for first half 2007.
OGFJ’s top 100 Canadian companies produced 4.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first half of 2007, equivalent to two-thirds of Canada’s total oil and gas output.
Canadian Natural Resources is currently Canada’s top producer, followed by EnCana, Husky, ExxonMobil’s Imperial, Petro-Canada, and ConocoPhillips. Penn West Energy Trust jumps into the top 10 for the first time on the back of a 34% production growth following its merger with Petrofund Energy Trust in mid-2006, while firms with substantial international operations, such as Talisman and Devon, continue to dominate the top 10. Reflecting the build-up in Canada’s oilsands, Suncor moves up from tenth position last year to No. 7 in the rankings.
Canada’s energy trusts dominate the next ten slots, with Apache, Nexen, and Shell also in evidence. Fast-growing Canadian Oil Sands Trust moved up to 12th place from 17th last year on the back of its growing production.
All this was against a background of sliding oil and gas price realizations and rising unit costs for most Canadian companies during the period. The commercial environment changed in the second half of this year, with crude prices rising and natural gas prices falling, further exacerbated (for Canadian operators) by the strengthening Canadian vs. the US$. With natural gas production currently accounting for almost half of total output of Canada’s top 100, it may be hard to sustain performance in the second half. Growth in Canadian production is likely to be almost entirely based on non-conventional hydrocarbons.
The top 20 companies account for 81% of the production for the group as a whole. With just three exceptions (Enterra Energy Trust, Petrobank, and US-based Quicksilver Resources), operations of Canadian producers in the bottom 50 concentrate their operations solely in Canada (although the bottom 50 account for just 4% of total oil and gas output of the group). Companies with head offices outside Canada currently account for 25% of total group production.
In the next OGFJ Canadian 100, expect to see some new faces as foreign companies buy into the Canadian oil sands. Marathon’s purchase of Western Oil Sands in July and Norway-based Statoil’s acquisition of North American Oil Sands Corp. in June are two examples. Soon to be delisted is Primewest Energy Trust (No. 25) and Pioneer Natural Resources (No. 50), both of which Abu Dhabi’s TAQA is aiming to acquire. With TAQA’s additional acquisition of Pogo’s Northrock Resources, TAQA’s estimated output would be 75,000 boe/d, ranking it 15th among the Canadian producers. Reflecting the fast-changing nature of the junior Canadian E&P sector, around 15 smaller companies have disappeared from the list since last year and were replaced by some aggressive new players.
Note that financial data are for the entire company (in Cdn$) not just the Canadian operations, and the list excludes private companies. Some firms (mainly US-based) report production after royalties while the majority of Canadian companies report production before royalties. Not included in the list are a number of Toronto Stock Exchange-listed companies such as Niko Resources, Denbury, Addax, and others that have substantial production but whose operations are based entirely outside Canada.
