NOVA &lt;NVA.A.TO> NOT PLANNING DOME &lt;DMP> BID
  Nova, an Alberta Corp, chief executive
  Robert Blair expressed hope that Dome Petroleum Ltd &lt;DMP>
  remains under Canadian ownership, but added that his company
  plans no bid of its own for debt-troubled Dome.
      "We've no plan to bid," Blair told reporters after a speech
  to a business group, although he stressed that Nova and 57
  pct-owned Husky Oil Ltd &lt;HYO> were interested in Dome's
  extensive Western Canadian energy holdings.
      "But being interested can sometimes be different from
  making a bid," Blair said.
      TransCanada PipeLines Ltd &lt;TRP> yesterday bid 4.30 billion
  dlrs for Dome, but Dome said it was discontinuing talks with
  TransCanada and was considering a proposal from another company
  and was also talking with another possible buyer, both rumored
  to be offshore.
      Asked by reporters if Dome should remain in Canadian hands,
  Blair replied, "Yes. I think that we still need to be building
  as much Canadian position in this industry as we can and I
  think it would be best if Dome ends up in the hands of Canadian
  management."
      He said he did not know who other possible bidders were.
      Blair said that any move to put Dome's financial house in
  order "will remove one of the general problems of attitude that
  have hung over Western Canadian industry."
      He added, however, that the energy industry still faced "a
  couple of tough, tough additional years."
      Asked about Nova's 1987 prospects, Blair predicted that
  Nova's net profit would rise this year to more than 150 mln
  dlrs from last year's net profit of 100.2 mln dlrs due to
  improved product prices and continued cost-cutting.
  

