Athabasca (TSE:ATH) Acquiring Excelsior (ELE:V) for C$144 million

Athabasca Oil Sands (TSE:ATH) announced it's acquiring Excelsior Energy Ltd. (ELE.V) for C$144 million.

Shareholders of Excelsior will receive will get either C$0.36 in cash or 0.0347 of a common share of Athabasca for each share they hold.

Sveinung Svarte, president and CEO of Athabasca Oil Sands said, “The addition of Excelsior’s high quality assets to those of AOSC at Hangingstone is in line with the strategy we have presented to our investors and creates a world-class, stand-alone project.”

The attributed value of oil sands assets held by Excelsior are C$89 million.

After the deal is closed, in the Hangingstone region Athabasca will have 113,007 net underdeveloped acres.

Warren Buffett says Oil Sands Trip for Learning, not to put in "Buy Order"

The secretive trip that became common knowledge this week, where Warren Buffett and Bill Gates took a look at Canadian Natural's C$9.3 billion ($8.9 billion) Horizon oil sands mining and synthetic crude processing operation, touring the facility which is scheduled to begin production later in 2008, resulted in speculators bidding up the oil sands producers' share prices.

Buffett has sinced cooled the stocks and speculators down, saying in an interview on CNBC that he has no plans at this time to buy into the sector.

"No, no. I go to the movies, but I don't buy movie companies. I mean, I'm always interested in understanding the math of things and understanding as much as I can about all aspects of business," he said on CNBC's Squawk Box.

Buffett usually does things quietly so this very thing doesn't happen. Obviously somebody on the inside let it out the duo were touring the operations so that rumors would bid up the oil stocks on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Even so, Buffett added that the fact-finding tour may be something useful in the future, but said it's the ability to make long-term price forecasts for oil that will determine if it's profitable to invest in the commodity. Buffett also said if oil stayed at about $120 a barrel over the next 50 years, the tar sands would do very well, but he concluded he doesn't have the answer to that uncertainty.

Part of the difficulty in projecting profits is the higher operational cost connected to the thicker crude inherent in the sands. If oil prices plummeted, and new oil resources tapped (like the billions of barrels available in America), it could end up a poor investment, as thinner crude would be less expensive to access and produce.

Bill Gates, Warren Buffett in Secret Trip to View Alberta Oil Sands

Northeastern Alberta, Canada was the destination of two of the world's richest men, as Bill Gates and friend Warren Buffett secretly flew into the Canadian province to take a look at the oilsands.

The stated reasons were to satisfy "their own curiosity" but also "with investment in mind."

At this time there is about $125 billion in new construction planned for the rich depository of oil, as well as operating expenses projected at $215 billion through the next five years. With Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) sitting on billions, it offers them the type of opportunity Buffett looks for, as the size of the company prohibits smaller investments.

Spokesman for Candain Natural Resources Ltd., Rob Larson, confirmed the pair visited the site, but refused to offer any more information.

Fort McMurray mayor Melissa Blake added that although she wasn't aware of the Gates/Buffett visit, there have been a number of "high-profile investors, politicians and even royalty" coming around to have a look at the high-potential oil depository.