Petrobank and Tristar to merge

Calgary-based Petrobank Energy has announced it will merge its Canadian business unit with TriStar Oil & Gas to form a new company focused on light oil buried in southeast Saskatchewan. With expected production of 37,000 barrels per day in 2009, the new company, Petrobakken Energy, will become the provinceÔÇÖs second-largest Bakken oil producer when the merger is completed in October. The deal is said to be worth around $2.24 billion. The tie-up will also make PetroBakken the single largest landholder in the region, with over 800,000 net acres in southeast Saskatchewan.┬á John Wright, president and CEO of Petrobank, said in a statement: ÔÇ£This is a unique opportunity to bring together two like-minded organizations to create a premier southeast Saskatchewan light-oil producer offering exceptional growth potential, focused on applying leading-edge technology to major resource plays, with our primary attention directed initially at the Bakken formation.ÔÇØ  The deal will not affect Petrobank's Canadian heavy oil division, nor its Columbian assets. The Bakken formation in southeastern Saskatchewan and Montana holds potentially billions of barrels of oil, but has been considered uneconomic until recently, when new drilling technology enabling the oil to flow was developed. ┬á Brett Herman, president and CEO of Calgary-based TriStar said: ÔÇ£With recent technological innovations, together, we have just begun to unlock the true potential of the Bakken and I am excited to be a part of the PetroBakken story going forward.ÔÇØ┬á * ┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á*┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *