Strathcona (SCR) has upped its original offer for MEG Energy (MEG), raising the price to nearly $31 per share - a ~10% premium to the Cenovus (CVE) offer MEG’s board accepted late last month.

Cenovus had some news of its own, selling its stake in WRB Refining for $1.9B - with proceeds to go towards leverage reduction and buybacks, adding support to the 25% stock portion of its bid for MEG.

As the September 15th vote nears, MEG shareholders have two choices: cash out (Cenovus deal), or own a scaled SAGD operation (Strathcona deal). The tug of war continues…