From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   Let's get moving on getting us a new government in Canada.  And then, on   
   getting vitally serious about green technologies to replace oil.   
   ____________________________________________________________   
      
   Globe and Mail - August 19, 2015   
      
   Energy companies face pressure to sell assets as oil slump hits profits   
      
      
   Unexpected increase in crude oil inventory in United States served as catalyst   
   for Wednesday's slide        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   The price of oil dropped to its weakest point in six years, dragging Canadian   
   energy stocks to their lowest in more than a decade as investors grow   
   increasingly worried about plunging profits in the sector.   
      
   The benchmark price for oil in North America, known as West Texas   
   intermediate, closed at $40.80 (U.S.) a barrel Wednesday.   This week, Western   
   Canadian Select oil sands crude fetched about $18.70 less than WTI.   
      
   The unexpected increase in crude oil inventory in the United States served as   
   the catalyst for Wednesday's slide.  Further, the United States Energy   
   Information Administration said it expects production in North America to   
   decrease through to mid-2016.   
      
   The year-long slump means energy companies across the board have lost their   
   ability to lock in more favourable prices for their future production, a   
   strategy known as hedging and one that has helped some oil and gas firms skate   
   through the slump.   
      
   Further, troubled companies that have been trying to sell their less desirable   
   assets may be forced to part with their more valuable projects to survive.   
   Even comparatively healthy companies such as Cenovus Energy Inc. may be   
   transformed into takeover    
   targets as they struggle to turn a profit at current oil prices.   
   [- - - ]   
      
   Come October, when the federal election has wrapped and Alberta's New   
   Democratic Party may have provided information on its royalty review, bankers   
   might force further sales - whether assets or entire companies.   
      
   "The banks might finally call and say: 'Listen, I want some of my money back.   
   I'm going to reduce your bank line, because if we have $45 oil for the next 18   
   months, you're going to be in trouble, and we want to get paid,'" he said.   
   "You'll actually have    
   some screws put to some of these smaller and mid-cap names."   
   [- - -]   
   Menno Hulshof, an energy analyst at Toronto-Dominion Bank, said Cenovus Energy   
   Inc. and MEG Energy Inc. could soon be takeover targets. Their depressed share   
   prices, in light of their oil sands production costs, could make them   
   attractive to competitors    
   looking to expand.   
      
   "To boil it all down, one can buy completely derisked production (plus growth)   
   for the same price or less than developing a new project with all of the   
   execution risk," such as timing, the availability of cash and the quality of   
   the reservoir, Mr.    
   Hulshof said in a note.   
      
   Companies producing oil using steam-assisted gravity drainage or cyclic steam   
   stimulation would be "bleeding cash on every barrel of bitumen produced," with   
   WTI at about $42 (U.S.) a barrel and WCS at $24 a barrel, he said.   
      
   The average break-even oil price for Canada's six major oil sands projects,   
   excluding mining operations, is $43.90 a barrel, Mr. Hulshof calculates.   
      
   U.S. crude inventory climbed to 456.2 million barrels last week, up 2.6   
   million barrels over the week before, according to the EIA. The market   
   expected reserves to drop by 800,000.   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)