ConocoPhillips and EnCana Create Integrated North American Heavy Oil Business

On January 3, 2007, ConocoPhillips and EnCana completed the formation of two 50/50 joint ventures, a Canadian upstream partnership including the Foster Creek and Christina Lake oil sands projects formerly held by EnCana, and a US downstream limited liability company including the Wood River and Borger refineries formerly held by ConocoPhillips. Both companies are contributing equally valued assets and equity for future-capital expenditures.
The upstream assets hold independently estimated recoverable bitumen of more than 6.5 billion barrels, and the upstream partnership's goal is to increase production from the current 50,000 barrels per day (bbls/d) to 400,000 bbls/d of bitumen by 2015. The upstream partnership plans to transport and sell the bitumen blend (an approximate 50/50 blend of bitumen and synthetic oil) at major Alberta trading hubs.

The downstream LLC plans to expand heavy oil processing capacity at its refinery facilities from approximately 60,000 bbls/d to 550,000 bbls/d (30,000 to 275,000 bbls/d of bitumen handling capacity) by 2015. Total throughput at the refinery facilities is expected to increase from the current 450,000 to 600,000 bbls/d over the same time period.

ConocoPhillips was represented in-house by Wayne Byers, Brad Stuebing, David Duncan and Donna Carvalho in Houston; Nancy Dilts, Anne Schenkenberger and Michael Kleiner in Calgary; and Ryan Cross, Beverly Dollar and Lynda Jolly in Bartlesville. ConocoPhillips was also represented in the United States by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, with a team including Gregory Ostling, Andrew Brownstein, Deborah Paul and David Feirstein; and in Canada by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, with a team including R.J. (Jack) Thrasher, Q.C., Maureen Killoran, Janice Buckingham, Pierre Magnan, Stan Ebel, Patrick Fettig, Sherri Fountain, Peter Glossop, Kevin Ackhurst, Simon Baines, Joshua Doig, Paula Olexiuk and Patrick Callaghan.

EnCana was represented in-house by Patricia Smith-Grayton, Leanne Campbell, Don Serink, Sandra Stevens, Mark Sykes and Larry Horne in Calgary. EnCana was also represented in the United States by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, with a team including Skip Allen, Michael Dillard, Pete Wahl, Rebecca Tyler and Edward Rubinoff; and by Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP with respect to US tax matters, with a team including Jim Barry; and in Canada by Burnet, Duckworth and Palmer LLP, with a team including John Cuthbertson, Bill Winters, Alicia Quesnel, Jonathan Liteplo, Stuart Money, Mark Houston, Carolyn Wright, Candice Jones and James Swanson; and by Felesky Flynn LLP with respect to Canadian tax matters, with a team including John Burghardt and Brett Anderson.