About Us


Nexen Inc. (Nexen, we or our) is an independent, Canadian-based, global energy company. We were formed in Canada in 1971 as Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. when Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Occidental) combined their Canadian crude oil, natural gas, sulphur and chemical operations into one company. We’ve grown from producing 10,700 boe/d before royalties with revenues of $26 million in 1971, to producing over 250,000 boe/d before royalties (including Syncrude production) and revenues of $8.2 billion in 2008. We achieved this growth through exploration success and strategic acquisitions. Operating for more than 35 years, we have been profitable every year, except one, and have been paying quarterly dividends consecutively since 1975.

 Download

Where we came from

1970s

broadened our western Canadian asset base and entered the US Gulf of Mexico

 

finished the decade with production of about 11,000 boe/d and revenues of $126 million

1980s

grew our western Canadian and Gulf of Mexico assets through acquisitions

 

acquired Canada-Cities Service doubling our size and captured an interest in Syncrude

 

finished the decade with production of about 69,000 boe/d and revenues of $591 million

1990s

discovered the first of 17 fields at Masila in Yemen in 1990 and production
commenced in 1993

 

tripled our Canadian production in 1997 by purchasing Wascana Energy Inc.

 

explored and made several discoveries, such as our 1998 Ukot discovery on block
OPL-222, offshore Nigeria

 

finished the decade with production of about 239,000 boe/d and revenues of $1.7 billion

Who we are now

2000–2008

made several significant international discoveries including: Gunnison, Aspen, Knotty Head and Longhorn in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico; Guando in Colombia; Block 51 in Yemen; and Usan, offshore Nigeria

 

acquired properties in the UK North Sea in 2004, including operatorship of the Buzzard discovery, the producing Scott and Telford fields and 700,000 exploration acres. Buzzard came on stream in 2007 on time and on budget. Made several discoveries including Golden Eagle, Pink and Rochelle

 

signed a 50/50 joint venture agreement with OPTI Canada Inc. to develop, produce and upgrade bitumen at Long Lake utilizing our patented OrCrudeTM technology, in the Athabasca oil sands. Construction of the Long Lake Project was completed in 2008

 

acquired Occidental’s remaining 29% interest in us with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Teachers). Teachers purchased 20.2 million common shares and we repurchased the remaining 20 million common shares for $605 million. We also exchanged our oil and gas operations in Ecuador for Occidental’s 15% interest in our chemical operations

 

divested non-core assets in 2005 by selling Canadian properties producing about 18,300 boe/d before royalties and by monetizing 39% of our chemical business through the initial public offering of Canexus Income Fund

 

developed our first coalbed methane (CBM) project in the Fort Assiniboine area in western Canada in 2005

 

captured a significant shale gas position in the Horn River Basin in northeastern BC

Where we are going

2009

began producing premium synthetic crude in January 2009 at Long Lake. Increased our interest in the Long Lake Project and joint venture lands by 15% and become the sole operator of both the resource and upgrader

 

continue to enhance and develop production at Long Lake and move towards first production at Ettrick in the UK North Sea and Longhorn in the US Gulf of Mexico
later this year

 

focusing on oil sands, unconventional gas and select conventional exploration and exploitation properties in our core areas

 

continue to evaluate and appraise potentially significant recent discoveries in the
UK North Sea