Tourmaline to increase natural gas production with $1.1 billion Bonavista acquisition

(Bloomberg) – Tourmaline Oil Corp. agreed to buy Bonavista Energy Corp. for about C$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion) in cash and stock to increase its presence in the Deep basin natural gas play in western Canada.

Canada’s largest natural gas producer will acquire Bonavista for C$725 million in Tourmaline common shares and C$725 million of cash, less Bonavista’s net debt, the company said Monday. Tourmaline’s production will increase to 600,000 boed after the acquisition, which is expected to close late next month.

Tourmaline’s purchase of Bonavista continues a series of acquisitions in recent years that have boosted its production, while it has also pushed into exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) off the U.S. Gulf Coast to garner better prices for its production. Tourmaline bought Rising Star Resources Ltd. for C$194.3 million last year and purchased Black Swan Energy Ltd. for C$1.1 billion the prior year.

“Given our scale, we see the opportunity to improve the returns from these assets,” Chief Executive Officer Michael Rose said of the Bonavista deal in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Television. “We can reduce costs, and we have a more diversified marketing portfolio, so we see an opportunity to do even better.”

Tourmaline said in May that it saw acquisition opportunities in the second half of the year amid weak gas prices. The company is boosting natural gas output, with plans to sign more LNG contracts and increase volumes dedicated for LNG exports to 200 MMcfd or more.