The FT reported that Canadian oil company Nexen (NYSE:NXY) is being courted by France’s Total SA (NYSE:TOT). Total could be preparing a bid for as much as $16 billion for the Canadian company. Total will apparently not make a hostile bid, so it will have to depend on sweet talk and cash to get the deal done. Nexen has said that should it receive a bid from Total, the company would go up for auction to the highest bidder.
Nexen owns 7.23% of Syncrude, the largest oil sands miner in Canada.The synthetic crude produced there is barely viable at a crude price of$50/b. Nexen’s stake amounts to about 10% of the company’s dailyproduction of nearly 250,000 barrels. If crude prices don’t go back toat least $70/b, mining the oil sands barely pays for itself.
Total would like to get into the sands box, but this deal might be too rich at current crude prices.
Paul Ausick
December 3, 2008
Cash Back Credit Cards Have Never Been This Good
Credit card companies are at war, handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers. A good cash back card can be worth thousands of dollars a year in free money, not to mention other perks like travel, insurance, and access to fancy lounges. See our top picks for the best credit cards today. You won’t want to miss some of these offers.
Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
