BP Amoco is shedding its oil interests in Canada to concentrateon natural gas, with a vow to be the lowest-cost leader in aCanadian producer community tooling up to expand exports to theUnited States.The newly-merged empire’s Canadian arm has put upfor sale assets currently producing 53,300 barrels per day ornearly all of the former Amoco Canada’s oil holdings. The only gasput on the block is about 40 MMcf/d, or 4% of BP Amoco’s Canadiandaily production of about 1 Bcf which is associated with oilproperties.

Although the oil assets are being sold in regional packages, BPAmoco said it will consider single bids for the entire suite. Anyorganization that bought the whole offering would instantly rank asCanada’s 20th-largest oil company.

BP Amoco’s regional president for Canada, Joseph Bryant, vowed”our goal is to be the lowest-cost producer in Canada in ournatural gas, natural gas liquids and chemicals operations. We willcontinue to focus on our core Canadian assets to maximize growthand profitability.” The BP Amoco action expressed in a nutshell atrend throughout the Canadian industry, which is switching to gasas fast as it can in anticipation of the 2000 completion ofAlliance Pipeline on top of expansions by the TransCanada andFoothills-Northern Border export routes. In the first five monthsof this year, Canadian producers managed to complete 2,276 new gaswells despite the squeeze on revenues and budgets brought on bypoor oil prices for most of the period. In the same period a yearago, Canadian producers completed 2,091 gas wells.

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