A frosty warning for oil sands firms

Western Oil Sands Inc. didn’t get a favorable reaction when it announced this week it would spend $45 million over four years exploring for oil in northern Iraq.

Analysts said investors were concerned about increased risk for the company and a dilution of what was perceived to be a mandate to invest only in Canada’s rich oil sands region. If that’s the case, other oil sands firms may face a dilemma. What’s to be done with the huge amounts of cash spun off by a successful oil sands project?

Reuters