M&A

3 November, 2009

Nexen says happy with current oil sands stake

CALGARY, Alberta, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Nexen Inc (NXY.TO) is happy with its current interest in the Long Lake, Alberta, oil sands project, making a further acquisition of Opti Canada Inc's (OPC.TO) stake doubtful, a Nexen official said Tuesday.

Nexen, Canada's No. 4 independent oil explorer, boosted its interest in Long Lake to 65 percent last year when it acquired 15 percent from Opti. Opti said on Tuesday it would explore alternatives for boosting its share price, including asset sales.

"We have lots of projects in the company that we're working on and we had our chance to have a good chunk of it back when we did the 15 percent," Nexen spokesman Michael Harris said. "I think if we wanted more then we would have gone for more." (Reporting by Jeffrey Jones; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://www.reuters.com