Conoco completes tender offer for Gulf Canada

US energy giant Conoco Inc. on Friday announced the successful completion of the C$12.40 cash tender offer by its wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, Conoco Northern Inc., to purchase all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Gulf Canada Resources Limited. The offer expired on Friday, July 13, 2001.

Based on preliminary information, Conoco has accepted 532,875,755 tendered ordinary shares of Gulf Canada, representing approximately 96 percent of Gulf Canada's outstanding ordinary shares. Conoco will take up and pay for the ordinary shares that have been tendered and will immediately acquire the remaining ordinary shares of Gulf Canada by statutory acquisition for C$12.40 per ordinary share in cash.

``Two of our primary objectives in recent years have been to strengthen Conoco's natural gas holdings in North America and to significantly expand in Southeast Asia to the point that we can designate that region our fourth core area,'' said Conoco Chairman and CEO Archie W. Dunham. ``The acquisition of Gulf Canada, with its extensive holdings in Canada and its investments in Indonesia, enables us to achieve both goals.''

``With the successful completion of the tender offer, we can now quickly move forward to integrate the two organizations and begin to realize the substantial benefits that the combination of two highly complementary energy portfolios will bring to our shareholders, customers and employees,'' he said.

The transaction will allow Conoco to increase its total worldwide reserves by almost 40 percent to 3.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), based on year-end 2000 totals. Total worldwide production will increase 32 percent to 335 million boe in 2001. The acquired properties offer the potential to add 1.2 billion boe from probable reserves already identified.

Southeast Asia will become a fourth core area for Conoco through Gulf Canada's 72 percent interest in Gulf Indonesia Resources Limited. Other core areas are North America, Europe and northern South America. Conoco will more than double its proved reserves in Southeast Asia and more than triple 2000's total net production from the region.

Conoco will more than double its Southeast Asia proved reserves to 365 million BOE (net), and more than triple 2000's total net production from the region. In addition, Conoco will gain access to 1.5 TCF of probable reserves in the region.

The companies will have major long-term natural gas sales contracts in Southeast Asia for delivery of 3 trillion cubic feet (TCF), with production exceeding 400 million cubic feet per day in 2005.

Gulf Indonesia's recent exploration successes on the island of Sumatra, in the Natuna Sea and offshore Java will complement Conoco's recent discoveries and current positions in Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. (alex)