Calgary-based Nexen Inc. is reviewing alternatives for its natural gas and power marketing businesses, which may include the sale of all or part of them, it said Thursday.

Nexen’s marketing business was the eighth largest North American gas marketer in the first quarter of this year, according to NGI‘s Top North American Gas Marketers survey. The firm transacted about 5.1 Bcf/d during the quarter. Earlier this year Nexen scaled back its marketing operations (see Daily GPI, April 29; Feb. 13).

The company said it has selected an adviser to assist with this initiative to continue the alignment of its marketing activities with its upstream oil and gas business.

“One of the key strategies of our marketing group is to obtain competitive pricing for our global oil and gas production,” said Nexen CEO Marvin Romanow. “We have no plans to give up this capacity with this strategic review, particularly as it relates to our crude oil and shale gas businesses.”

Nexen has operations in the North Sea, Western Canada (including the Athabasca oil sands of Alberta and unconventional gas resource plays such as shale gas and coalbed methane), the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, offshore West Africa and the Middle East.

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