Western Oil Sands Completes Offering and Senior Credit Facility

On April 23, 2002, Calgary-based Western Oil Sands completed a US$450 million offering of 10-year senior secured notes under rule 144A and regulation S, with registration rights. On the same day, Western also completed a $100 million senior credit facility with a Canadian chartered bank. Western holds a 20 per cent interest in a multi-billion dollar joint venture with Shell Canada Limited and Chevron Canada Limited to mine oil sands deposits in northeastern Alberta, extract and transport the bitumen contained in these deposits and upgrade the bitumen into synthetic crude oil and vacuum gas oil. The oil sands project is expected to begin at the end of 2002.
Western was represented by Macleod Dixon LLP in Calgary with a team led by Charles Berard, and including Howard MacKichan and Rick Borden (banking), Kent Kufeldt and Harvey Steblyk (securities) and Orville Pyrcz, Q.C., and Darren Hueppelsheuser (tax). Western’s U.S. counsel was Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, with a team that included Andrew Foley in New York, and Stuart Steingold, Dale Sarro and Paul Marin in Washington.
The underwriters, Salomon Smith Barney Inc. and TD Securities (USA) Inc., were represented by Cahill Gordon & Reindel with a team that included Richard Farley, Ann Makich and Corey Wright in New York; and by Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP with a team that included Pat Finnerty, Warren Nishimura and Chad Schneider. McCarthy Tétrault LLP represented the senior lender, with a team that included Michael McIntosh and Kristine Kennedy.