TORONTO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Shares in Ivanhoe Energy Inc rose as much as 32 percent on Thursday after the small Canadian company said an Ecuador oil field contained billions of barrels of oil while an investment bank boosted its target price for the stock.
Ivanhoe shares rose 47 Canadian cents, or 21 percent, to C$2.72 by midmorning on Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange after earlier touching C$2.98.
Ivanhoe said late on Wednesday that its Pungarayacu heavy oil field in Ecuador likely contains about 6.4 billion barrels of oil, though the company offered no estimate for how much of that could be recovered.
The company said it will use its proprietary upgrading technology -- which converts heavy oil and tar-like bitumen into more valuable light oil -- at the Pungarayacu field and at its planned Tamarack project in Canada's oil sands region.
Ivanhoe also said on Wednesday that it had improved its HTL heavy-oil upgrading process, cutting operating and capital costs.
The news prompted Macquarie Tristone to bump up its target price for Ivanhoe Energy's Nasdaq-listed shares to $2.75 from $2.25 with an 'outperform' rating. The Nasdaq shares rose 38 cents, or 18 percent, to $2.55 on Thursday morning.
($1=$1.06 Canadian)
(Reporting by Scott Haggett; editing by Rob Wilson) Keywords: IVANHOEENERGY/SHARES (scott.haggett@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: scott.haggett.reuters.com@reuters.net; +1 403 531-1622) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Ivanhoe shares rose 47 Canadian cents, or 21 percent, to C$2.72 by midmorning on Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange after earlier touching C$2.98.
Ivanhoe said late on Wednesday that its Pungarayacu heavy oil field in Ecuador likely contains about 6.4 billion barrels of oil, though the company offered no estimate for how much of that could be recovered.
The company said it will use its proprietary upgrading technology -- which converts heavy oil and tar-like bitumen into more valuable light oil -- at the Pungarayacu field and at its planned Tamarack project in Canada's oil sands region.
Ivanhoe also said on Wednesday that it had improved its HTL heavy-oil upgrading process, cutting operating and capital costs.
The news prompted Macquarie Tristone to bump up its target price for Ivanhoe Energy's Nasdaq-listed shares to $2.75 from $2.25 with an 'outperform' rating. The Nasdaq shares rose 38 cents, or 18 percent, to $2.55 on Thursday morning.
($1=$1.06 Canadian)
(Reporting by Scott Haggett; editing by Rob Wilson) Keywords: IVANHOEENERGY/SHARES (scott.haggett@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: scott.haggett.reuters.com@reuters.net; +1 403 531-1622) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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