I think you did find a well run company. Connacher doesn't generate a lot of hype, it's a steady-as-she-goes operation with press releases once a month or so. The next couple of months and next couple of years should be fun to participate in IMO.

Connacher engages in a good deal of hedging. This means -- for example -- they may have their bitumen refined nearby, but if refining costs go up they still realize the increased cost benefit by profiting from their Montana refinery operations. Here's something from a May press release "

Our longer term objective or vision is to systematically develop our productive capacity in the oil sands to 50,000 bbl/d by 2015. Employing our integrated strategy, we also anticipate increasing our upstream natural gas productive capacity to 50 mmcf/d within this timeframe, to continue to hedge our significant operating cost component and thus keep our integrated netbacks at higher levels than if we were solely a bitumen producer. Also, we are actively examining the merits of expanding our refining capacity, initially to approximately 35,000 bbl/d and ultimately in lockstep with our upstream bitumen production growth to 50,000 bbl/d. In management’s opinion, our 50-50-50 goal by 2015 is achievable at minimal dilution and we are pursuing this vision with all available energy and commitment."

More from January "

As a prospective producer of significant volumes of bitumen using SAGD technology, Connacher has been mindful of market pressures on natural gas prices and of the increasing volatility and widening of price differentials for heavier oil as crude oil prices rose inexorably during the past two years.

As a small company, Connacher could not afford the risk of getting the Great Divide project on stream and then facing rising fuel costs, higher diluent charges or shortages of this product to blend with our bitumen in order to meet pipeline specifications. Furthermore, as a SAGD operation requires continuous steam input, Connacher also must be able to sustain itself during periods of high, wide or volatile differentials for heavier crude, if they resulted in low, even negative cash flow or net operating income for extended periods of time.

To mitigate these risks, acknowledging the difficulty of successful financial hedging opportunities, Connacher purchased a small but profitable and accessible refinery in Great Falls, Montana.

As a prospective producer of significant volumes of bitumen using SAGD technology, Connacher has been mindful of market pressures on natural gas prices and of the increasing volatility and widening of price differentials for heavier oil as crude oil prices rose inexorably during the past two years."

There is lots of information at Connacher's Web site.