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Strategies & Market Trends : Ride the Tiger with CD -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Condor who wrote (31198)	7/20/2005 9:36:17 PM
From: Cogito Ergo Sum	Respond to of 313175

I dunno ... seems not too long ago the bid dropped to .16 on Tinka...

To: Condor who wrote (31198)	7/20/2005 11:29:56 PM
From: Rocket Red	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 313175

Upstart firm gets regulatory nod for oil sands plan DAVE EBNER Wednesday, July 20, 2005 An upstart energy company's plan to build a $720-million facility to process raw bitumen from the Alberta oil sands has received regulatory approval, the first such independent proposal to move forward. With approval in hand, privately held BA Energy Inc. of Calgary is pushing ahead to raise funds in a private placement that is supposed to close in August and is readying itself for an initial public offering, set for early 2006. BA Energy aims to raise about $360-million in equity and use debt to fund the rest of the construction east of Edmonton. Producers of bitumen generally control their own upgrader, a facility that converts bitumen into synthetic crude for sale to refineries, where it is turned into gasoline and the like. Others, such as EnCana Corp., sell bitumen to third-party upgraders, though EnCana is now working to seal a long-term deal with a refinery/upgrader in Ohio. But with predictions of major increases in bitumen production, BA Energy believes it can carve out a niche and hopes to be in business handling 50,000 barrels of bitumen a day in late 2007. “We are in discussion with various producers today,” said Ray Cej, president of BA Energy. While BA Energy is the first independent to move into the bitumen upgrading business, another upstart is following. North West Upgrading Inc., also a private Calgary firm, raised $38-million in a private placement in May. It still has to submit its regulatory application and hopes to be in business northeast of Edmonton in 2010 northeast. Its first phase is projected to cost $1.5-billion and would handle 50,000 barrels of bitumen a day. Two further expansions could see BA Energy's Heartland Upgrader processing more than 160,000 barrels of bitumen a day by 2011 for a total project cost of $1.8-billion. The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board approved BA Energy's full three-stage plan on Tuesday. The company had submitted its application in May, 2004. BA Energy was established in 2002 by its parent company, Value Creation Inc., which started work in 1999. Value Creation came up with technology that is supposed to make the upgrading process more efficient. The driving force behind the project is Columba Yeung, the lead investor and chief executive officer of Value Creation and BA Energy. He is a former senior employee at Shell Canada Ltd. and led the technical design of the Scotford refinery near Edmonton, the last refinery built in North America. David Tuer is president of Value Creation and formerly was CEO of PanCanadian Energy, once Canada's top oil producer. Mr. Cej spent most of his career at Shell Canada Ltd. A chemical engineer by training, Mr. Cej rose to the senior ranks of Shell and held the role of vice-president development, where he was in charge of Shell's drilling and production. He retired from Shell in 1995. © Copyright The Globe and Mail