Oilexco sees no reason for massive share trading

CALGARY, Alberta, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Oilexco Inc, the Canadian oil company whose operations in the U.K. North Sea are under bankruptcy protection, said on Tuesday it could not point to any reason its shares rose 59 percent on massive volume.

Shares of the company rose 9.5 Canadian cents to 25.5 Canadian cents on Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. More than 65.7 million shares changed hands, nearly 8 times the average over the past 90 days.

Earlier this month Oilexco placed its North Sea operations, its primary assets, under bankruptcy protection in the U.K. after lenders balked at providing needed credit to the firm.

Its shares, worth as much as C$19.50 in late June, tumbled to as low as 6.5 Canadian cents earlier this month.

The company said in a release that it knew of no corporate developments that would account for the surge in its shares. It added that on Friday, the company issued two press releases in the U.K. that listed insiders who had shares automatically purchased for them as part of an employee stock purchase program, an announcement Oilexco said was routine.

($1=$1.23 Canadian)

(Reporting by Scott Haggett; Editing by Frank McGurty) Keywords: OILEXCO/SHARES ([e-mail]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]; [phone]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.