DOME PETE&lt;DMP> SAID TO BE PRESSED TO SELL ENCOR

  Dome Petroleum Ltd is under pressure
  from one of its largest creditors, &lt;Canadian Imperial Bank of
  Commerce>, to sell its 42 pct stake in &lt;Encor Energy Corp Ltd>,
  energy industry analysts said.
      Dome has pledged its 42.5 mln Encor shares as security for
  part of its debt to Commerce Bank, estimated last year at 947
  mln Canadian dlrs, and the bank wants Dome to sell the stock to
  pay down debt, analysts said.
      "The Commerce has been slowly but surely moving Encor in the
  direction that might make it a saleable asset," said one analyst
  who asked not to be named.
      Dome earlier said it was not considering selling Encor
  Energy, but reaffirmed the company's 23.3 pct interest in
  Canadian gold producer Dome Mines Ltd &lt;DM> is up for sale "at
  the right price."
      Dome, now negotiating a plan to restructure more than 6.10
  billion dlrs in debt, sees Encor as a strategic investment that
  it does not intend to sell, spokesman David Annesley said. The
  Encor shares do not pay dividends.
      A Commerce Bank spokesman also declined comment when asked
  whether it is pressing Dome to sell its Encor stake.
      At current market prices, Dome's stake in Encor would be
  valued at about 308 mln dlrs, while its 20.9 mln Dome Mines
  shares would be worth about 319 mln dlrs.
      Recent strength in the price of Encor shares may also
  prompt Commerce Bank to press Dome to divest its holding in the
  Canadian oil and gas producer, analysts said.
      "Encor's stock price has improved quite substantially in
  recent weeks with a runup in crude prices," Peters and Co Ltd
  oil analyst Wilf Gobert commented.
      "The possibility is that Commerce Bank would like to see it
  sold at these levels because they can get more for it now than
  they have been able to in recent years," he added.
      Encor traded earlier on the Toronto Stock Exchange at
  7-1/8, near its 52-week high of 7-1/2 and up from around six
  dlrs in early February.
      The company also recently set up its own operating
  management, which was previously carried out by Dome Petroleum,
  Maison Placements Canada Inc analyst Denis Mote commented.
      Dome and Encor "are actually going to get farther apart. So
  (the sale) does make a lot of sense," Mote said.
      However, analysts said Dome will resist any moves to divest
  Encor in favor of retaining the operating assets since sale
  proceeds would likely go directly to pay down Dome's debt to
  Commerce Bank.
      "I think they'll probably try to hang onto Encor as long as
  they can," said Bache Securities Inc analyst Doug Weber.
      Some of Dome's group of 56 major creditors might move to
  block such a sale, arguing they have a claim on company assets.
      "Other creditors generally all want to make sure that
  something they might be able to get a piece of is not being
  sold out from under them," said analyst Gobert.
      Another stumbling block would be Encor's 225 mln dlr joint
  liability in loans to Dome Petroleum advanced by Arctic
  Petroleum Corp of Japan for Beaufort Sea exploration.
      Analysts said a similar hurdle could also hinder the
  possible sale of Dome Petroleum's interest in Dome Mines.
      Dome Mines has guaranteed 225 mln dlrs of Dome Petroleum's
  debt and has a "right of consent" to the sale of Dome Petroleum's
  holding.
      Presumably, a potential buyer of the Dome Mines shares
  would seek some type of relief on the company's debt
  obligations connected with Dome Petroleum, Gobert said.
      Dome spokesman Annesley earlier declined to specify at what
  price the company would consider selling its Dome Mines shares,
  but said current prices of more than 15 dlrs a share "are very
  attractive."
  

