Equinor divests stake in Canada oil sands producer Athabasca

Athabasca Oil

20/01/2021 14:03

OSLO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Norway's Equinor  EQNR.OL  said on
Wednesday it has sold its stake in Athabasca Oil  ATH.TO , a
Canadian firm producing carbon-intensive oil sands.
    Majority state-owned Equinor sold 100 million shares,
representing an 18.8% stake in Athabasca for a total of 18
million Canadian dollars ($14.2 million).
    Equinor, formerly called Statoil, received the shares in
2017 as part of a deal to sell its Kai Kos Dehseh oil sands
project in the Canadian province of Alberta. 
    "This was just a financial holding that was part of the deal
when we exited... We have no other interests onshore Canada
now," an Equinor spokesman said.
    Athabasca produced 20,200 barrels per day of oil sands crude
in the third-quarter of 2020, accounting for about two-thirds of
its total output, according to regulatory filings.
    In 2017, Equinor pledged not to invest in oil sands, a heavy
oil resource, production of which requires more energy than
production of conventional sources and thus resulting in higher
greenhouse gas emissions.
($1 = 1.2707 Canadian dollars)

 (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik)
 ((nerijus.adomaitis@thomsonreuters.com; +47 9027 6699; Reuters
Messaging: nerijus.adomaitis.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))