Business Matters: Cenovus Energy buying Athabasca Oil in $5.7B deal - Global News

The leaders of Cenovus Energy Inc., Calgary, plan to pay about CAN$5.7 billion for Athabasca Oil Corp. in a move president and chief executive officer Jon McKenzie called “a natural extension” of Cenovus’ Alberta oil sands strategy. Athabasca will add roughly 45,000 boe/d to Cenovus’ production, which McKenzie and his team have told investor will get close to 1 M boe/d this year. Roughly 80% of that latter figure comes from Canada’s oil sands, a business that Cenovus beefed up a year ago by buying MEG Energy Corp. for nearly CAN$8 billion. That transaction consolidated a lot of SAGD [steam-assisted gravity drainage] oil sands production in the Christina Lake area of Alberta.

Canadian oil and natural gas company Cenovus Energy is buying oilsands producer Athabasca Oil in a cash and stock deal valued at $5.7 billion. That story and more in Business Matters for October 5, 2026.

Over the past 10-plus years, there’s been an extraordinary consolidation among producers in Alberta’s booming oil sands region. Now, with Cenovus Energy’s planned multibillion-dollar acquisition of Athabasca Oil Corp., more than 90% of oil sands production will be owned by only five companies.