EXXONMOBIL'S $3.1 BILLION ACQUISITION of Alberta-based junior producer Celtic Exploration Ltd. was the company's first corporate acquisition in western Canada in many years, underscoring the dramatic turnaround in the perceived prospectivity of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. In late 2012, ExxonMobil and Imperial Oil Ltd. started "putting the puzzle together" to become a player in Canada's evolving liquid natural gas (LNG) sector by announcing the purchase of gas-focused producer Celtic. At the time, Exxon and Imperial, which each took a 50 per cent interest in Calgary-based Celtic, didn't link the purchase with their plans for an LNG export facility on the West Coast. But a Calgary-based LNG expert says that's what motivated the companies to make the purchase.
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