Sellers of established Canadian reserves in 2003 received a median average of nearly C$10 per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE), setting a new record a fourth consecutive year, according to an analysis by Calgary-based investment-banking firm Sayer Securities Ltd. Reserves fetched an average of C$9.33 per BOE, up from C$8.31 in 2002, the firm reported. "Established reserves" are proved reserves plus half of those deemed probable, before royalties. (For more on the Canadian M&A marketplace, see "To Buy or to Sell" in this issue.) "This was the highest price recorded since Sayer Securities began publishing merger and acquisition (M&A) statistics in 1988," says Tom Pavic, an analyst with the firm. The 2003 average price is nearly double that of 1999. "The obvious influence on the acquisition price [in 2003] was high commodity prices, especially for natural gas. In 1999 the average AECO-C gas price was C$2.92 per million Btu, and for 2003 it was C$6.70, a 129% increase," Pavic reports. There were also fewer Canadian assets and companies available for purchase in 2003 than in prior years, he adds. "In 2003 the total enterprise value of M&A transactions was C$9.1 billion. This is the lowest value since 1994 when the total was C$7.1 billion." There was no lack of demand last year, though. "In 2003 there were 135 large transactions-more than C$5 million in size-compared with 143 in 2002. This suggests demand was still strong in the M&A market in 2003." There was only one multi-billion-dollar Canadian deal last year-the Canadian Oil Sands Trust !=purchase of EnCana Corp.'s interest in the Syncrude project for a total of C$1.5 billion. There was only one multi-billion-dollar U.S. deal (in U.S. dollars) in 2003 too: the Devon-Ocean merger. By comparison, total 2002 Canadian activity included the C$15.9-billion merger of PanCanadian Energy and Alberta Energy (forming EnCana). "Removing this blockbuster transaction from that year's statistics, the total M&A value for 2002 was C$9.5 billion, only 4% higher than the value in 2003," Pavic says. Royalty income trusts (RITs) continued in 2003 to make a mark on the Canadian M&A market-their purchases totaled C$4.5 billion in 2003, or 50% of the total. By comparison, in 2002 they were responsible for C$3.4 billion of deals-or a third when excluding the PanCanadian-Alberta Energy merger.