(Corrects to "may" from "to" in headline)
Feb 12 (Reuters) - Canadian oil producer Cenovus Energy Inc
CVE.TO said it may sell up to $5 billion of stock, debt or
other securities, a day after it announced a dividend cut, as
the company shores up its balance sheet amid a slump in oil
prices.
The company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission for a mixed shelf offering after the company also
said on Thursday it would cut its 2016 budget and lay off more
employees. (http://1.usa.gov/1WhvZXF)
In a mixed shelf offering a company may sell securities in
one or more separate offerings without filing a prospectus for
each one. The filing does not necessarily mean that the
securities will be sold immediately, if at all.
U.S. oil producers including Oasis Petroleum Inc OAS.N and
Pioneer Natural Resources Co PXD.N have also launched stock
offerings, indicating that some oil producers can tap the
capital markets even as highly indebted ones struggle to
survive.
Cenovus cut its dividend by 69 percent on Thursday and said
it would further reduce its workforce, on top of last year's 24
percent reduction.
These measures come months after the company sold its oil
and gas royalty properties to Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan for
about C$3.3 billion, to strengthen its balance sheet.
Cenovus had total debt of C$6.53 billion ($4.70 billion) as
of Dec. 31. The company has a market value of C$11.62 billion.
($1 = 1.3901 Canadian dollars)