Imperial adds shale deposits

Article Excerpt

IMPERIAL OIL $42.44 (Toronto symbol IMO;Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap:$36.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average;Dividend yield: 1.1%; www.imperialoil.ca) hasagreed to pay $1.55 billion to buy 50% of CelticExploration (Toronto symbol CLT). Thecompany will purchase this stake from its parentcompany, ExxonMobil Corp. (New York symbolXOM), after Exxon completes its recent deal tobuy 100% of Celtic.Celtic owns large, undeveloped shale gasdeposits along the B.C.-Alberta border. Thesefields hold a total of 128 million barrels of oilequivalent. Of that total, 76% is natural gas and24% is natural gas liquids, such as butane. Atthe end of 2011, Imperial’s proved reservestotalled 3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent.Imperial Oil is a buy. buy…