2 Nov 2017dividend declaration● Neutral
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.275 per share, payable January 1, 2018 to holders of record on December 12, 2017. This is unchanged from the previous quarter. The filing has no other substance.
Announcements, explained
Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
3 Aug 2017dividend declaration● Neutral
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.275 per share, payable October 1, 2017 to holders of record on September 15, 2017. This is unchanged from the previous quarter. The filing has no other substance.
13 July 2017business combination● Neutral
This is the formal acquisition report on the May 31, 2017 oil sands purchase, giving detail on the assets. It says the company holds a direct 60% plus an indirect 10% in AOSP (the indirect part via buying half of Marathon Oil Canada Corporation with a Shell affiliate), and offered jobs to about 2,800 employees. Independent evaluator GLJ puts proved reserves of the acquired AOSP assets at 2,340 MMbbl gross (2,086 MMbbl net of royalties) as of Dec 31, 2016. Peace River and Cliffdale together averaged 14,197 BOE/d in 2016. The filing adds detail rather than new events.
31 May 2017business combination● NeutralMajor
The company completed the oil sands acquisition announced on March 9, 2017, giving it 70% of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, with Chevron at 20% and Shell at 10%. Consideration was 97,560,975 new shares to Shell, $8.24 billion cash before adjustments, and a deferred US$375 million to Marathon Oil due Q1 2018. It becomes operator of the AOSP mines from June 1, 2017, and expects June mine production of 173,000-191,000 bbl/d plus 12,000-14,000 bbl/d from the Peace River properties.
18 May 2017security holder rights change▲ Good
The company announced a new share buyback (normal course issuer bid) running May 23, 2017 to May 22, 2018, for up to 27,931,135 shares (2.5% of 1,117,245,428 shares outstanding at May 12, 2017). This renews the annual buyback; the previous bid ran to April 2016 and was 5% of shares. Purchases are at market price, and the company decides how many to buy and when.
4 May 2017dividend declaration● Neutral
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.275 per share, payable July 1, 2017 to holders of record on June 16, 2017. This is unchanged from the previous quarter. The filing has no other substance.
9 Mar 2017business combination● NeutralMajor
The company agreed to buy a 70% stake in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (including 70% of the Scotford upgrader) plus other oil sands assets from Shell and Marathon Oil, for a total of $12.74 billion. Payment is 97,560,975 new Canadian Natural shares to Shell (about $4 billion), $8.24 billion cash before adjustments, and a deferred US$375 million to Marathon Oil in Q1 2018; closing is targeted for mid-2017, subject to approvals. It is funded by the share issue plus $9 billion of committed financing ($3 billion term loan and up to $6 billion bridge to bonds), and the company targets debt to book capitalization of about 41% and debt to EBITDA of about 2.4x at end-2017. Existing shareholders would be diluted by the new shares.
2 Mar 2017dividend declaration▲ Good
The board raised the quarterly dividend to C$0.275 per share from C$0.25, payable April 1, 2017 to holders of record on March 17, 2017. The filing gives no reason for the increase and has no other substance.
17 Feb 2017regulatory community update● Neutral
A notice from the transfer agent, Computershare, sets the annual general meeting for May 4, 2017 in Calgary, with a record date of March 15, 2017. It carries no other substance; it is a routine meeting notice.
16 Dec 2016asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
The company completed the Cold Lake Pipeline sale to Inter Pipeline announced four days earlier, receiving $350 million cash and 6,417,740 Inter Pipeline shares (ascribed value $177.5 million, about $186.6 million at the December 15 close), for about $527.5 million in total (about $536.6 million at the December 15 close), subject to closing adjustments.
12 Dec 2016asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
The company agreed to sell its 15% interest in Cold Lake Pipeline Ltd. and 14.7% interest in the Cold Lake Limited Partnership to Inter Pipeline for $350 million cash plus 6,417,740 Inter Pipeline shares valued at $177.5 million (about $527.5 million total), targeted to close in 2016. It expects an after-tax gain of about $200 million (preliminary) and says it keeps access to the pipeline. Alongside the sale it secured firm Inter Pipeline capacity for Kirby North, which the filing says has been reinitiated, with first production now targeted for Q1 2020, later than the earlier Q4 2016 first-steam target in the context.
3 Nov 2016dividend declaration▲ Good
The board raised the quarterly dividend to C$0.25 per share from C$0.23, payable January 1, 2017 to holders of record on December 9, 2016. The filing gives no reason for the increase.
4 Aug 2016dividend declaration● Neutral
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.23 per share, payable October 1, 2016 to holders of record on September 16, 2016. This is unchanged from the previous quarter. The filing has no other substance.
9 May 2016business combination▲ GoodMajor
The company set out the terms for distributing PrairieSky shares to its own shareholders: 0.02 of a PrairieSky share for each Canadian Natural share, or a cash equivalent depending on number of shares owned. More than 99% of shareholders voted in favour on May 5, 2016, the final court order was obtained May 6, with a record date of June 3 and effective date of June 6, 2016. This carries out the share distribution promised in the December 2015 royalty combination.
5 May 2016dividend declaration● Neutral
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.23 per share, payable July 1, 2016 to holders of record on June 17, 2016. This is unchanged from the previous quarter. The filing has no other substance.
3 Mar 2016dividend declaration● Neutral
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.23 per share, payable April 1, 2016 to holders of record on March 18, 2016. This is unchanged from the previous quarter. The filing has no other substance; it is signed by a new Corporate Secretary, Paul M. Mendes, replacing Bruce McGrath.
17 Dec 2015business combination▲ GoodMajor
The company completed the combination of its royalty business with PrairieSky Royalty, receiving 44,444,444 PrairieSky shares (deemed price $25.20 each, 19.5% of PrairieSky) as partial consideration. This resolves the open question from 2014 about what to do with the royalty stream: the company has agreed to distribute enough shares to shareholders by December 31, 2016 (by dividend or return of capital, subject to approvals) to own under 10%, and intends to distribute the majority at or near its May 2016 annual meeting. Until then it agreed not to sell the shares, with limited exceptions. The filing does not state the cash portion of the price.
5 Nov 2015dividend declaration● Neutral
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.23 per share, payable December 31, 2015 to holders of record on December 11, 2015. This is unchanged from the previous quarter. The filing has no other substance.
6 Aug 2015dividend declaration● Neutral
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.23 per share, payable October 1, 2015 to holders of record on September 11, 2015. This is unchanged from the previous quarter. The filing has no other substance.
8 May 2015dividend declaration● Neutral
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.23 per share, payable July 1, 2015 to holders of record on June 12, 2015. This is unchanged from the March 2015 declaration. The filing has no other substance.
7 Apr 2015security holder rights change● Neutral
The company renewed its share buyback for April 9, 2015 to April 8, 2016, allowing purchase of up to 54,640,607 shares (5% of the 1,092,812,154 outstanding at March 31, 2015) at market price. Under the bid ending April 8, 2015 it bought 8,140,000 shares to March 31, 2015 at a weighted average of C$46.64, for a total cost of $379.7 million, a higher average price than the C$32.41 paid under the prior bid. Purchases are at the company's discretion.
6 Mar 2015dividend declaration▲ Good
The board raised the quarterly dividend to C$0.23 per share from C$0.225, payable April 1, 2015 to holders of record on March 16, 2015. The filing has no other substance.
7 Nov 2014dividend declaration● NeutralMajor
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.225 per share, payable January 1, 2015 to holders of record on December 12, 2014, unchanged from the prior quarter. The same filing carries the 2015 budget: capital of about $8.6 billion, production targeted at 869,000-916,000 BOE/d (about 11% growth at the midpoint of 893,000), cash flow of about $9.4 billion and free cash flow of about $800 million, based on WTI of US$81/bbl. It says Horizon Phases 2 and 3 are on schedule and within original cost estimates toward 250,000 bbl/d by late 2017, with Phase 2B targeted for late 2016, and Kirby North Phase 1 (40,000 bbl/d, $1.45 billion total) has first steam targeted for Q4 2016. Horizon is planned to have a 35-day maintenance turnaround in Q3 2015. The budget figures are targets and depend on the oil price assumption.
7 Aug 2014dividend declaration● Neutral
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.225 per share, payable October 1, 2014 to holders of record on September 12, 2014. This is unchanged from the previous quarter. The filing has no other substance.
9 May 2014dividend declaration● Neutral
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.225 per share, payable July 1, 2014 to holders of record on June 13, 2014. This is unchanged from the March 2014 declaration. The filing has no other substance.
7 Apr 2014security holder rights change● Neutral
The company renewed its share buyback for April 9, 2014 to April 8, 2015, allowing purchase of up to 54,596,899 shares (5% of the 1,091,937,994 outstanding at March 31, 2014) at market price. Under the bid ending April 8, 2014 it bought 9,894,100 shares at a weighted average of about C$32.41 for a total cost of $320.7 million, fewer than the 11,886,200 bought under the prior bid. Purchases are at the company's discretion and the filing says cash flow may alternatively strengthen the balance sheet.
2 Apr 2014business combination▲ GoodMajor
The company announced it completed the Devon Canada asset acquisition announced in February (the $3.125 billion deal). It will integrate the assets immediately and welcomes Devon staff. The release gives no new financial figures, so the final price paid is not stated here.
7 Mar 2014dividend declaration▲ Good
The board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.225 per share, payable April 1, 2014 to holders of record on March 17, 2014. This is up from the C$0.20 declared in November 2013 (as recorded in the context). The filing has no other substance.
19 Feb 2014business combination▲ GoodMajor
The company agreed to buy Devon Canada's Canadian conventional assets (excluding Horn River and the heavy oil properties) for $3.125 billion cash, effective January 1, 2014, with closing targeted for April 1, 2014. The assets produce about 383 mmcf/d of gas, 10,800 bbl/d of light crude and 12,000 bbl/d of NGLs, with 272.2 million BOE of proved reserves and about 900 Devon employees joining. A new $1 billion committed term facility with the Bank of Montreal is available on closing, and the company targets debt to book capitalization of about 30-31% at end of 2014. It also plans to either spin the combined royalty stream into a new vehicle or sell it later in 2014. This is a much larger deal than the 2013 Barrick Energy purchase (about $173M), and it is subject to government approval.
7 Nov 2013dividend declaration▲ GoodMajor
The board raised the quarterly dividend 60%, to C$0.20 per share from C$0.125, payable January 1, 2014 to holders of record on December 13, 2013. The filing attributes this to confidence in executing its growth plan and the sustainability of its free cash flow, and calls it the fourteenth consecutive yearly increase.