Irvine Oil Firm to Buy Parent’s Holdings for Stock

Saba Petroleum Co. said it has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire the Canadian and Colombian oil production and exploration properties of its Canadian parent, Capco Resources Ltd., in an all-stock deal that is yet to be valued.

Saba, an Irvine-based oil production, refining and exploration company, has production properties in the United States. The company also owns a refinery in Santa Maria, on California’s central coast.

The deal with Capco would make it an international company, said President Ilyas Chaudhary.

Capco, based in Calgary, Alberta, now owns 60% of Saba. If the deal closes at year-end as planned, its stake in the Saba would increase, Chaudhary said.

Saba’s common stock closed at $1.94 a share Thursday, up 6.3 cents on the American Stock Exchange’s Emerging Companies market.