| Week of April 22, 2007
Leasing moved farther offshore in the Shell-dominated Beaufort Sea outer continental shelf lease sale held April 18 in Anchorage. Total high bids were $42,165,195 in Minerals Management Service sale 202. All but a handful of tracts receiving bids are out beyond existing OCS leases. Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. accounted for $39,272,708 of the $42 million high bids, 93 percent, and took 49 of 92 tracts. This is the second MMS Beaufort Sea sale in a row dominated by Shell, which accounted for $44 million of $46 million in high bids at sale 195, held in March 2005, the companys return to Alaska (see story in April 3, 2005, issue of Petroleum News). Shell had the 10 top bids at this years sale, with the highest at $14,104,239, an average of $6,122 per hectare for Flaxman Island tract 6609.
Tenke Mining: Lundin Merger Offer Could Spike Bidding War.
Sufiy submits: It's all happening so fast. On April 4th, Lundin Mining (LMC) announced an all cash offer at CAD 5.0 per share of Rio Narcea (RNO) for all shares outstanding; it is now only a couple weeks later and we have news of a new deal to buy out Tenke Mining (TNKDF.PK), with their major asset of 24.75% in Tenke Fungurume copper/cobalt mine in Congo. As per the announcement, all shareholders of Tenke Mining are being offered 1.73 shares of Lundin Mining for each Tenke share, but I will be surprised if Lundin will get Tenke at the first price offer. Lundin's motivation is clear: such an asset is still under the radar of the investment crowd with almost no one following it. With construction of the mine at full speed, and expected first production in 2008, the price for Tenke will increase dramatically as soon as the story hits newsletters and analysts start to follow the stock.
Khe Wei bids for Olympic glory
PETALING JAYA: Lanky Woon Khe Wei is determined to become the youngest Malaysian women shuttler to feature in the Olympic Games. And in a bid to get her ambitious plan on the right track, the 18-year-old Khe Wei is all geared up to put up a good showing in the Singapore Open in the mixed doubles event with partner Tan Wee Kiong. The US$250,00 Singapore Open from May 1-6 is the first tournament that will kick off a one-year Beijing Olympic Games qualifying period. .
eBid Doubles Successful Closings, Adds Videos to Online Auctions
Online auction website eBid said it has doubled the number of auctions that are closing successfully compared to November 2006. The auction marketplace has also unveiled a new design, stating it has "cleaned up the layout, simplified the navigation, improved search, and made it easier to find items you are looking to sell and want to buy." eBid also added functionality for sellers to add videos to auctions when listing items. To add video to their auction listings, sellers upload video files to YouTube and add the unique 11 digit code that each new video is given into the box on the eBid listing page. The online auction site said it has also made other, numerous improvements to the site. eBid is based in the UK. It launched in the US in 2005 and is available in Canada, Australia and Ireland.
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