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CALGARY — Ottawa’s new foreign ownership guidelines are coming into play just as a large number of oil sands assets are poised to change hands.

In a new report, Calgary energy investment bank Peters & Co. said oil sands assets worth $17-billion are for sale today formally and informally — about the same value as oil sands assets sold over the entire last decade.

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The interesting theme: The big sellers appear to be U.S. companies looking to get out, while the buyers seem to be national oil companies (NOCs) — such as those from China — looking to get in.

The theme may reflect the rise and attractiveness of tight oil in the United States and pipeline bottlenecks that are depressing prices of oil produced in Canada.

“The current high level of oil sands assets potentially for sale results from the cost intensive nature of developing these assets, combined with the lower netbacks compared to other crude oil plays in North America,” the investment bank said in its report.