Sable-Related Assets Sold; Share Sales Continue
N.S. RESOURCES LTD.--Sable-Related Assets Sold; Share Sales Continue
Nova Scotia Resources Limited chair Steve Parker said today that the sale of all the company's Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP)-related assets has been completed.
A total of $370 million, representing the purchase price plus interest, has been received and deposited with the province. This represents almost 90 per cent of the $420- million purchase price announced earlier this year.
Purchasers of the SOEP assets, as previously announced, are Emera Inc. and members of the Sable Offshore Energy Inc. consortium. Pengrowth Energy Trust has an agreement with Emera regarding the natural gas portion of these assets.
The original agreement to sell Nova Scotia Resources Limited anticipated that PanCanadian Energy would acquire the company's shares after the SOEP assets had been sold. However, PanCanadian has exercised its right to withdraw from the share sale because it was not able to obtain all the waivers and agreements it required.
As announced on June 15, Pengrowth Energy Trust has executed a share sale backstop agreement with the Province of Nova Scotia in which Pengrowth Corporation may acquire the shares of NSRL, as long as certain conditions are satisfied. Since PanCanadian has withdrawn, the province is working with Pengrowth to sell the shares of the company either under the terms of this backstop agreement or to a third party. No date has been set for the share sale.
"NSRL has relatively few costs or obligations and it has a strong cash position. We will only recommend the shares be sold when we're able to finalize the right deal at the right price," Steve Parker said.
Neil LeBlanc, minister responsible for Nova Scotia Resources Limited, expressed satisfaction about progress on the government's plan to sell NSRL and its assets.
"Natural gas prices are currently only fraction of what they were when we sold our SOEP assets last February," he said. "This illustrates what we have been saying all along, the high-risk, expensive and volatile energy business is no place for the taxpayers of Nova Scotia to be directly involved. At the moment, it appears that NSRL's major assets were sold at a time of peak demand in the market."