Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd., the oil sands technology and oil and gas developer, agreed to buy Peerless Energy Inc. for C$334 million ($341 million) for its land and oil production in Saskatchewan, Canada.

The purchase price includes fees and debt, Petrobank said in a statement today on Canadian Newswire. Petrobank will give Peerless Class A shareholders 90 cents for each share, and 0.08 of Petrobank shares. Peerless Class B shareholders will receive C$10 cash for each share they hold, the statement said.
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BHP’s (BHP.AX) proposed bid for rival Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) and the rise of emerging market players, particularly China, will force further consolidation in metals and mining, industry experts told a conference this week.

At least three more transactions worth over $50 billion are likely by June, Ernst & Young’s Partner in Charge for Global Mining and Metals, Michael Lynch-Bell, told the Mines and Money conference in London.

China, India and Russia are likely to play a key role in coming merger and acquisition activity as they seek greater access to raw materials to keep up with their booming economies.
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The minister made the announcement at the launch of the first South African Carbon Disclosure report at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

The top ten companies were:
BHP Billiton,
SAB Miller,
Anglo American,
Old Mutual,
Sasol,
Pick ‘n Pay,
Nedbank,
MTN Group,
Anglo Platinum and Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited.
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Shell Exploration & Production Ukraine Investments (I) B.V. has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Regal Petroleum plc, to acquire a 51% interest in Regal Petroleum, a wholly owned subsidiary of Regal Petroleum plc indirectly holding the licenses for the Mekhediviska-Golotvschinska and Svyrydivske gas fields in Ukraine.
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Fox Petroleum Inc. is pleased to announce the signing of a Farm- in Agreement to acquire a 46% working interest on Block 211/17 South in a joint venture with Petrofac Energy Developments Limited and Valiant Petroleum Limited, a well funded privately held company. After farm-in, which is dependant on Fox drilling an exploration well on the block during 2008, the partnership ownership percentages will be; Fox Energy Exploration Ltd 46%, Petrofac 24% and Valiant 30%.

Under a separate agreement, Fox will transfer a 4.6% carried interest (10% of its acquired interest) to Aimwell Energy Ltd, in recognition of Aimwell’s experience and technical support in defining and developing the prospect. The beneficial owners of Aimwell are members of the Fox Petroleum Advisory Board, but will receive no cash or stock payment, other than the carried interest. Read more » »

Environmental groups urged the government Tuesday to stop issuing concessions for mining companies at protected forests, to avoid further forest conversions.

The groups said the government’s commitment to participate in global efforts to minimize the effects of climate change, including reducing CO2 emission through reforestation, was dubious because at the same time it continued to give new concessions for mining companies in protected forests.
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Hawk Uranium Inc. is pleased to announce that it has entered into an option agreement with Noront Resources Ltd. (”Noront”) pursuant to which Hawk has the option to acquire a 50% legal and beneficial interest in a property. The property includes 10 Claims (covering a total of 160 claim units, or approximately 6340 acres) in the “Ring of Fire” of the McFaulds Lake area, James Bay Lowlands, Ontario near Noront’s nickel copper discovery.

To earn its interest in the property, Hawk is required to:

1. Issue 400,000 common shares of Hawk to Noront immediately following approval of the option agreement by the TSX Venture Exchange;

2. Complete an aggregate of $3,500,000 in exploration expenditures on the property over a three year period (of which $1,000,000 must be incurred in the first year); and
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India’s gold demand tapered off on Wednesday as prices climbed back above $800 an ounce overseas, with buyers having stocked up at the dips earlier in the week, dealers said.

“No one is really stocking now,” said a dealer in a large foreign bank. “No one has any particular level in mind… there are no orders coming.”

The dealer said traders had purchased the metal in the dips earlier in the week at around $782 an ounce and were now deterred by gold’s volatility.

“There was good sales earlier in the week, but now it is quiet,” said Manoj Agarwal of Om Commodity Trading Co in Ahmedabad.
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Rio Vista Energy Partners L.P., or “Rio Vista”, an energy master limited partnership, announced today that its indirect, wholly-owned subsidiaries, Rio Vista Penny LLC and Rio Vista GO LLC, have completed the acquisition of assets and/or equity including certain leasehold interests of oil and gas producing properties (the “Properties”) and associated pipeline gathering systems from three privately held companies (the “Sellers”) based in East Central Oklahoma which have geographically contiguous operations. The acquisitions are expected to be immediately accretive to Rio Vista’s 2007 financial results.
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Even if the price of oil doesn’t breach the $100 mark, its recent rise is starting to bite - at the pump, the airline ticket counter and possibly in your home.

Oil is hovering near $100 a barrel and gasoline prices could soon top their all-time record from last May of $3.22 a gallon.

“There’s no doubt, gasoline prices are rocketing higher,” said Stephen Schork, publisher of the industry newsletter the Schork Report. “By Christmas, we could be paying more for gas than we were during the start of the summer driving season.”
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