Pure Hot Money Run 1 Ticker Up After Another=Sucker Rally

Opti says stumped by share activity, gains pared

Thomson Reuters


* Gains pared after Opti says it has nothing to report

* Up 2.7 percent at C$2.31
(Recasts with Opti saying it doesn't know why shares rose)

CALGARY, Alberta, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Opti Canada Inc
shares surged early on Thursday but pared gains after
the company, known for its minority stake in Nexen Inc's
Long Lake oil sands project, said it knew of no reason
for recent activity.

Opti jumped as much as 12 percent on the Toronto Stock
Exchange Thursday morning, but by midday was up 6 Canadian
cents, or 2.7 percent, at C$2.31 on volume of 13 million
shares.

Nexen shares were off 12 Canadian cents at C$25.48

The rise for Opti followed a surge of 33 percent in heavy
volume on Wednesday, a move that puzzled analysts.

In response to a query from regulators, Opti issued a
statment saying it was not aware of anything that would
contribute to the sharp rise or heavy trading activity.

Some analysts have said investors may believe Opti could be
the next takeover target for a Chinese oil company after
PetroChina's C$1.9 billion ($1.8 billion) deal in
August to buy a 60 percent stake in two planned oil sands
projects from privately held Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.

Opti has a 35 percent stake in the C$6.1 billion Long Lake,
Alberta, project, which is in start-up 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.

Opti shares had been under pressure for the past year as
credit markets sputtered and investors became concerned that it
could run out of cash.

Last month, Opti negotiated eased restrictions on a key
C$350 million credit facility.

($1=$1.06 Canadian)
(Reporting by Jeffrey Jones and Scott Haggett; editing by
Peter Galloway)