A new trend of transactions being done on a "quiet basis" is emerging in the Canadian M&A space in 2007, according to Tom Pavic, vice president of Calgary-based Sayer Energy Advisors. So far this year, a number of deals have been completed without any broad public marketing, including Progress Energy Trust's acquisition of BG Canada; Exoro Energy Inc.'s purchases of assets from Onyx Oil & Gas Ltd.; Long View Resources Corp.'s merger with Reece Energy Exploration Corp.; and Strike Petroleum Ltd.'s arrangement with FairWest Energy Corp. Prices for Canadian reserves hit C$20.13 per barrel of oil equivalent in 2006, from C$15.83 in 2005, according to Pavic. The price is the highest recorded since Sayer began publishing M&A statistics in 1988, he adds. In the past five years, the median price for reserves has increased 142%, from C$8.31 per BOE in 2002. There were seven transactions valued at more than C$1 billion in 2006, while there were five of these in 2005. The royalty trusts contributed a number of them: four in 2006, totaling more than C$7.2 billion combined, he says. For more on this, see the May issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.