Asian Firms Keen for Canadian Hydrocarbons
Thailand’s PTTEP Canada, along with Sinochem and Japan Canada Oil Sands, have expressed interest in investing in various plays across Canada.
"We're open to opportunities both in conventional and unconventional resources, including shale gas, tight gas, coal bed methane, oilsands, oil shale ... and other interesting oil and gas resources," company’s Canadian subsidiary senior vice-president Yothin Tongpenyai said at the Canada-Asia Energy Cooperation Conference held in Calgary last week.
Majority owned by the Thai government, PTTEP already owns 40 per cent stake in Statoil's Kai Kos Dehseh oilsands project.
Japan Canada Oil Sands which has been active in the Athabasca oilsands since 1978, is keen to focus production on both oilsands and conventional resources in Canada.
'Canada has huge potential to expand its oil and gas markets to Asia, which will become the world’s biggest factory and consumer market,' the company president Toshiyuki Hirata who was present in the conference, said.
"Japan will seriously look for natural gas sources for clean fuel in order to enhance the usage of fossil fuels in power plants to make up for the energy shortage after tsunami," he said.
Sinochem,China's fourth largest energy firm, is looking to invest in Alberta’s oil and gas sector, targeting conventional resource development, company's assistant president Li Pilong indicated at the meet
According to him, the company is 'more focused' on conventional oil and natural gas, as opposed to oilsands.
'I plan to visit a number of oil companies (in Canada) to explore the possibility and potential of working together for a kind of co-operation in the energy field between the two countries,' Li said after the conference, hosted by the Canada West Foundation and the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada.
Asian companies have largely paid for minority stakes in oilsands projects. But in July, China National Offshore Oil Corp committed to an outright take over of struggling oilsands developer Opti Canada for $2.1 billion.