CALGARY — Cenovus Energy Inc. says it has signed an agreement to buy the 50 per cent stake in the Sunrise oilsands project in northern Alberta that it does not already own from BP.

The company will pay $600 million in cash plus a variable payment with a maximum cumulative value of $600 million expiring after two years.

Cenovus will also give BP its 35 per cent stake in the undeveloped Bay du Nord project in offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.

Cenvous CEO Alex Pourbaix says acquiring the remaining working interest in Sunrise will allow the company to fully benefit from what he says are significant optimization opportunities.

Cenovus is the operator of the Sunrise project, which currently produces about 50,000 barrels per day. It expects to achieve nameplate capacity of 60,000 bpd through a multi-year development program.

The transaction has an effective date of May 1 and is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, subject to closing conditions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2022.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CVE)

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