Letang was assessed a minor penalty for boarding.The 24-year-old Letang, who leads the Penguins in scoring with seven points, will miss Tuesday’s game in Minnesota and Thursday’s home encounter against the Montreal Canadiens.He will be eligible to return October 22 for Pittsburgh game against the New Jersey Devils.
* Statoil sees break-even production price of $55/barrel* Bingham Exploration shares jump 20 pct to $36.36By Gwladys FoucheOSLO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Statoil is paying $4.4
billion for Brigham Exploration to boost its
unconventional energy resources in the United States, one of its
key growth areas.The Norwegian state-controlled oil firm backed its belief in
the growing importance of unconventional sources on energy
supplies with an agreed $36.50 per share all-cash offer, a 36
percent premium to Brigham’s average price in the past month.Statoil already has a stake in the Marcellus shale gas
project with Chesapeake in north-east America and owns
acreage in the Eagle Ford prospect in Texas, together with
Canada’s Talisman .”Marcellus is primarily dry gas, Eagle Ford is a combination
of dry gas and liquids and this (Brigham’s assets) is oil. We
now have a good, deep position in the U.S. in unconventionals,”
said Statoil Chief Executive Helge Lund.Brigham shares jumped 20 percent to $36.36 on the Nasdaq
bourse. The deal estimates an enterprise value of $4.7 billion
for Brigham, Statoil said.North America has in recent years seen a boom in energy
resources such as shale gas, raising the prospect that the
world’s largest economy may lower its dependence on imported
energy.”We are seeking positions in the most competitive plays
within unconventionals in the U.S.,” Lund told Reuters. “We
believe unconventional resources will be more and more important
for future energy supplies.”Statoil sees the United States as one of its key growth
areas outside of its home region and is a
major holder of deepwater licences in the Gulf of Mexico.Terra analyst Irmantas Vaskela said the acquisition price
was good, assuming Statoil can produce the oil for less than $55
per barrel, as indicated.”If the (break-even) calculations are right then it is a
good price,” he said. “And it’s quite a big deal for Statoil.”The Brigham deal would allow Statoil to become an operator
in unconventional energy quickly, something the firm is already
seeking to do with the development of the Eagle Ford play.Lund said he saw the deal as part of Statoil’s aims to focus
increasingly on upstream activities, such as production and
exploration, rather than refining and sales.”This is part of our focus on production,” Lund told
reporters. “We do not rule out further acquisitions.”Several big oil companies have in recent years sold off big
chunks of their retail or refining operations to focus on the
more lucrative sectors of finding and producing oil and gas, the
latest of which was ConocoPhillips in July.Statoil has spun off its petrol stations business but still
had a refining division where margins have more than halved in a
year.OUTPUT POTENTIAL SEEN UP TO 100,000 BARRELS/DAYAustin-based Brigham’s assets in the Williston Basin in
North Dakota and Montana, which include the Bakken and Three
Forks oil plays, include an estimated resource base of 300
million to 500 million barrels of equity-based oil equivalent
(boe).Current equity production is some 21,000 boe per day.The acreage, which mostly consists of “tight oil”, has
potential to ramp up to 60,000 to 100,000 boe per day equity
production over a five-year period, Statoil said, adding the
transaction was expected to close in the first quarter of 2012.Tight oil is one of the many types of unconventional energy
resources that the industry has been developing in recent years
using new techniques.”This is in line with Statoil’s strategy of expanding in the
United States in unconventional oil,” Terra’s Vaskela said,
noting “tight oil” reserves such as Brigham’s require much the
same hydraulic fracturing technology used in shale-gas recovery.Another analyst said Statoil was seeking to balance its
portfolio.”To me, the land-based investment work is a strategic hedge
against North Sea exposure. These assets will last for many
years,” said analyst Helge Andre Martinsen at Nordea Markets.”I take a balanced view. There are many sceptics but it will
take 30 years before you know if it was the right thing to do.”Lund, who declined to say whether he expected rival bids to
emerge, said Statoil and Brigham had been working on the deal
for almost a year.”We know the company well. We have a bid that reflects the
valuation of the company,” he said.Shares in Statoil closed down 0.44 percent at 137.42 crowns
while the Oslo benchmark index was down 0.76 percent.
The legislation, which calls for U.S. tariffs on imports from countries with deliberately undervalued currencies, will head toward a final Senate vote on Tuesday after efforts to bring action to a close faltered on Thursday.Obama stopped short of explicitly backing the legislation and he restated concerns that any measure must comply with global trade rules. Still, in his toughest language on China to date, the president echoed the sponsors of the bill.The measure, which has drawn warnings from Beijing that it could trigger a trade war, is still widely expected to pass.”China has been very aggressive in gaming the trading system to its advantage and to the disadvantage of other countries, particularly the United States,” Obama told a news conference focused on his bid to revive a weak U.S. economy.”Currency manipulation is one example of it,” he said.Obama, who faces a tough bid for re-election next year, did not say whether he would sign or veto the legislation if it reached his desk. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives would have to approve the measure first.”My main concern … is whatever tools we put in place, let’s make sure that these are tools that can actually work, that they’re consistent with our international treaties and obligations,” Obama said.”I don’t want a situation where we’re just passing laws that are symbolic knowing that they’re probably not going to be upheld by the World Trade Organization,” he said.The authors of the bipartisan Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act insist the bill complies with WTO rulesBOEHNER CALLS BILL “WRONG” AND “DANGEROUS”Many economists say China holds down the value of its yuan currency to give its exporters an edge in global markets. China says it is committed to gradual currency reform and notes that the yuan has risen 30 percent against the dollar since 2005.The Senate voted 62-38 on Thursday to curtail debate and send the bill toward a final vote in that chamber following a dispute between Republicans and Democrats over which amendments would be considered.Supporters say that decision, which required a super-majority of 60, virtually guarantees Senate approval, but the bill faces stronger opposition in the House where it may never face a vote.”For the Congress of the United States to pass legislation to force the Chinese to do what is arguably very difficult to do I think is wrong, it’s dangerous,” House Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday.”You could start a trade war,” he warned.Some bill supporters, such as Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Boehner’s home state of Ohio, say that won’t happen because China can’t afford a trade war with a country that annually buys more than $300 billion of its goods.Others argue the United States is already in a battle for its economic life and not doing enough to defend itself.”We’re in a trade war,” said Brian O’Shaughnessy, chairman of 210-year-old Revere Copper in Rome, New York, a maker of copper and brass products used in electrical, construction and other markets, who backs the legislation. “We’re in an economic war for jobs and we’re not fighting it. We’re losing it.”Boehner has the power to block the bill in his chamber, even though backers of the legislation say it has 225 House co-sponsors, including 61 Republicans — enough for passage if it came to a vote.House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi lost no time in stepping up pressure on the Republican leader.”Now is the time for the House Republican leadership to stand with American workers by allowing the House to pass the bipartisan China currency bill, and put more Americans back to work,” she said in a statement.”We are in a very abusive relationship with China,” that is costing the United States more than 1 million jobs, Pelosi told reporters later.During his news conference, Obama touted his administration’s record on pursuing cases against China at the World Trade Organization. He also noted he had taken great pains to stabilize ties with Beijing that have been dogged by disputes over trade, human rights and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.VOTES VS. DIPLOMACY DILEMMAIf the House were to pass the bill, Obama would face a dilemma. Signing it would anger China, whose cooperation the United States needs both on the economic front and in global hot spots such as North Korea.But vetoing the bill would not play well in industrial heartland states like Ohio and Michigan, and could undercut Obama’s bid for second term. A leading Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, has vowed to crack down on China over currency.”I think Obama would prefer not to take a position, but if he wants to be consistent with his past policies and statements, he will sign the bill,” said Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.Obama said he believed “a win-win trading relationship with China” was possible.But he said competing with the world’s second-biggest economy requires Washington to “make sure that we’re aggressive in looking out for the interests of American workers and American businesses and that everybody is playing by the same rules and that we’re not getting cheated in the process.”Underscoring that stance, Trade Representative Ron Kirk accused China of flouting WTO rules by failing to notify the world trade body of nearly 200 Chinese government subsidy programs.”The situation was simply intolerable,” Kirk said in a statement, which also scolded India for being delinquent with the subsidy reports.
