Western Oil Sands share slump on Iraq adventure - Plundering doesn't pay

http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2006-05-31T192740Z_01_N31236304_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESS-ENERGY-WESTERNOILSANDS-STOCK-COL.XML

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Shares in Western Oil Sands Inc. (WTO.TO: Quote) fell as much as 8.3 percent on Wednesday after the Canadian company said it plans to begin exploring for oil in northern Iraq.

The Calgary-based company, whose sole business is a 20 percent stake in Shell Canada Ltd.'s (SHC.TO: Quote) Athabasca oil sands project, said on Tuesday it would invest $45 million over four years to explore for oil in Iraq's Kurdistan region.

The shares dropped after the announcement, falling C$1.33 to C$31.14 on the Toronto Stock Exchange by mid-afternoon. Earlier they slipped as low as C$29.78. snip

"People are certainly wondering why they are doing this," said Mark Friesen, an analyst at FirstEnergy Capital Corp. in Calgary. "This is not why people bought the stock."