EnCana Corp. is examining a potential joint-ownership of a retrofitted refinery in Ohio to provide capacity for the company's quickly increasing oilsands production.
EnCana said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Connecticut-based Premcor Inc. to examine the possibility of upgrading the Ohio refinery to process the heavy oil.
The two companies said they will conduct a preliminary design and engineering study over the next six to nine months examining the possibility of upgrading Premcor's refinery at Lima, Ohio, to process an estimated 200,000 barrels per day of blended heavy oil supplied under a long-term sales contract.
If the project goes ahead, the companies said a 50-50 joint venture, which would own and operate the upgraded refinery, would be established and the converted refinery would be on stream in 2008.
In addition to moving its head office from Toronto to Calgary, Imperial Oil Ltd. is migrating its bookkeeping from Canadian to U.S. accounting principles (GAAP).
Paul Smith, senior vice-president of finance and administration, told an investor conference last week that fourth-quarter results from the largest integrated oil company in Canada will be filed under U.S. procedures. "The difference between Canadian and U.S. GAAP is very small for Imperial," he added.
Imperial Oil, which announced two months ago it will move its head office westward by the end of next summer, spent the half-day conference presenting itself as a secure company focused on operations and return to investors - "a broker's nightmare, a shareholder's dream: buy and hold forever," as Smith put it.
Canadian Superior Energy Inc. has signed an agreement for GlobalSantaFe Corp. to drill two offshore exploration wells, one off Nova Scotia's coast and the other near Trinidad and Tobago.
Financial terms weren't disclosed. GlobalSantaFe is a leading offshore worldwide oil and gas drilling contractor.
Canadian Superior, with one partner committed to both the Mariner exploration project off Nova Scotia and the Intrepid project off the east coast of Trinidad, now is arranging to get an additional partner for each project, the company said last week.
Ferus Gas Industries Trust and Burlington Resources Canada Ltd. have announced the opening of an $8-million carbon dioxide (CO2) liquefaction facility adjacent to Burlington's Elmworth natural gas processing plant west of Grande Prairie.
The new facility will clean and liquefy about 160 tonnes per day of industrial grade carbon dioxide, which is removed from the gas stream at the Elmworth facility.
- The Canadian Press
