Opti surges in heavy volume, stumping analysts

Opti surges in heavy volume, stumping analysts

Thomson Reuters


* Analysts puzzled by gain of 33 percent

* Nearly 9 times typical volume

* PetroChina bid fuels talks of next oil sands target

CALGARY, Alberta, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Shares in Opti Canada
Inc , known for its minority stake in Nexen Inc's
Long Lake oil sands project, surged by a third on
Wednesday, puzzling analysts, who said they knew of no reason
for the big gain.

Opti jumped 57 Canadian cents to C$2.25, its highest level
in almost three months, on more than 21 million shares, nearly
nine times its average volume in the last three months.

There was no clear reason for the move and a company
official was not immediately available.

Opti has been mentioned as a potential takeover target
since late August when PetroChina said it would pay
C$1.9 billion ($1.8 billion) to buy a 60 percent stake in two
planned oil sands projects from privately held Athabasca Oil
Sands Corp.

Some analysts have said that deal could be just the start
of a new wave of interest in Canada's vast oil sands resources
among Chinese companies that are scouring the globe for new oil
supplies.

"The Chinese have made a move; it's not unreasonable to
think they would make another move. But is Opti the choice? Who
knows?" Genuity Capital Market analyst Philip Skolnick said.

Opti has a 35 percent stake in the C$6.1 billion Long Lake,
Alberta, project, which is in startup mode. Nexen has said it
could be another year before all the bugs are ironed out and
the 70,000 barrel a day project is reliably operating at
capacity.

Last month, Opti negotiated eased restrictions on a key
C$350 million credit facility. Its shares had lost most of
their value in the past year as investors worried it would run
out of cash, while the startup of Long Lake, which employs new
upgrading technology, moved slowly.

At its Wednesday closing price, Opti's market value was
C$635 million.

($1=$1.07 Canadian)
(Reporting by Jeffrey Jones; editing by Rob Wilson)