A rig worker operates a self-moving pad rig on a multi-well pad near Fort McMurray, Alta.Kevin Van Paassen
Investors are pleased with Chinook Energy Corp.'s decision to unload its Tunisian assets, in order to focus on popular plays in Western Canada.
Shares in Chinook jumped 4 per cent to a new high of $2.66 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday after the company said Indonesia's PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk was buying Chinook's North African assets for $128-million (U.S.).
The gain extends an impressive run for the stock, which has climbed 130 per cent this year.
The deal turns Calgary-based Chinook, which counts Alberta Investment Management Co. and Lime Rock Partners among major backers, into a solely domestic energy company concentrating on Montney and Dunvegan properties in Alberta and British Columbia.
The company recently announced a favourable well test in its Birley/Unbach Montney properties in B.C., as well as new acreage in the region.
In the first quarter, the Tunisian assets produced 1,800 barrels a day. That unit has 1.3 million net acres over four concessions and four exploration permits.
The company had said earlier that it was reviewing strategic alternatives for its international assets.
Following the close of the deal, Chinook expects its full-year production to average between 7,750 and 8,250 barrels of oil equivalent a day, and working capital of $30-million. Proved and probable reserves will total 25.1 million barrels of oil equivalent, it said.
Jeffrey Jones