A total of C$10.2 billion was raised in the Canadian oil patch during the first six months of 2007. Equity fund-raising by trusts and fund-raising in debt categories both increased, despite the uncertainty for the future of the trusts, while equity issues decreased, according to Ryan Ferguson Young, an associate with Calgary-based asset-marketer Sayer Energy Advisors. The amount of capital raised in the first half of 2007 is 40% more than in first-half 2006. Debt has been more appealing to Canadian companies because it continues to be relatively inexpensive, despite the interest-rate increase enacted by the Bank of Canada on July 10, he says. The main issuer of straight debt in first-half 2007 was a traditional E&P company, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., which raised C$2.6 billion to repay bank debt. Another traditional E&P, Addax Petroleum Corp., which raised C$324 million, was the largest issuer of convertible debt in the half. As for the trusts, they were expected to lay in wait after news of a new federal tax regime, yet as a group they raised a total of C$2.6 billion in the first half of 2007. Of that, C$1.8 billion was raised through issuing units, a 255% increase from the C$500 million of the same period in 2006. For more on this, see the September issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.

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