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Canadian Oil Sands files Syncrude reserves and resources

Posted on: Monday, 23 March 2009, 15:37 CDT

CALGARY, March 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - (TSX - COS.UN) - Canadian Oil Sands Trust ("Canadian Oil Sands") today announced that it has filed the results of the independent evaluation of its reserves and a review of its resources for the Syncrude Project leases at December 31, 2008 with the Canadian securities administrators on the SEDAR web site. This information also has been posted on Canadian Oil Sands' web site at: http://www.cos-trust.com/investor/Financials/default.aspx.

Based on an independent engineering evaluation conducted by GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd. ("GLJ") effective December 31, 2008 and prepared in accordance with NI 51-101, Canadian Oil Sands had proved plus probable reserves of 1.8 billion barrels. All reserve information in this section is based on Canadian Oil Sands' working interest of 36.74 percent in the Syncrude Joint Venture as at December 31, 2008. Proved developed producing reserves represent 55 per cent of proved plus probable reserves. Proved non-producing reserves have not been assigned. Canadian Oil Sands currently produces only one product type, namely synthetic crude oil ("SCO"), which is a high-quality, light, sweet crude oil.

------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reserves and Resources(1) (Billions of barrels of Syncrude Canadian Oil synthetic crude oil) Project Sands(2) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Proved plus Probable Reserves 4.9 1.8 Contingent Resources - best estimate 5.4 2.0 Prospective Resources - best estimate 2.2 0.8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Based on independent reserves and resources estimates by GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd. as of December 31, 2008. See reserves and resources cautionary advisory in Canadian Oil Sands' Annual Information Form dated March 13, 2009 and the definitions provided later in this release. (2) The Trust, through its operating subsidiary, holds a 36.74 per cent interest in the Syncrude Project. Reserves and Resources Definitions: -----------------------------------

Proved Reserves are reserves that can be estimated with a high degree of certainty to be recoverable. NI 51-101 further identifies the certainty level for proved reserves as "at least a 90 per cent probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the estimated proved reserves".

Proved plus Probable Reserves are additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than proved reserves. NI 51-101 defines the certainty level as "at least a 50 per cent probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the sum of the estimated proved plus probable reserves". Therefore, under NI 51-101, the proved plus probable reserves represent a "best estimate" or "expected reserves".

Contingent Resources are those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from known accumulations using established technology or technology under development, but which are not currently considered to be commercially recoverable due to one or more contingencies.

Prospective Resources are those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations by application of future development projects. Prospective resources have both an associated chance of discovery and a chance of development.

Best Estimate is a term used to describe an uncertainty category for resources estimates referring to the best estimate of the quantity that will actually be recovered. It is equally likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will be greater or less than the "best estimate". The best estimate of the Contingent and Prospective Resources is prepared independent of the risks associated with achieving commercial production.

Canadian Oil Sands provides a pure investment opportunity in the Syncrude Project through its 36.74 per cent working interest. The Trust is an open-ended investment trust managed by Canadian Oil Sands Limited and has approximately 483.2 million units outstanding, trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol COS.UN.

Located near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Syncrude Canada operates large oil-sands mines and an upgrading facility that produces a light, sweet crude oil on behalf of its joint venture owners, which include Canadian Oil Sands Limited, ConocoPhillips Oilsands Partnership II, Imperial Oil Resources, Mocal Energy Limited, Murphy Oil Company Ltd., Nexen Oil Sands Partnership, and Petro-Canada Oil and Gas.

Advisory: in the interest of providing Canadian Oil Sands Trust ("Canadian Oil Sands" or the "Trust") unitholders and potential investors with information regarding the Trust, including management's assessment of the Trust's future plans and operations, certain statements throughout this release contain "forward-looking statements" under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the expected extension of the resource life and the potential to have higher production levels as a result of the new resource information; the expected amount to be recoverable from resources and reserves and any approval by the Syncrude owners of further expansion plans. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. Although the Trust believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Some of the risks and other factors which could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements contained in this release include, but are not limited to: the lack of precision around estimates of resources and reserves; the requirement for all Syncrude owners to approve major capital expansion plans under the Syncrude joint venture agreement and such other risks and uncertainties described from time to time in the reports and filings made with securities regulatory authorities by the Trust. You are cautioned that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this release are made as of the date of this release, and the Trust does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. In any reference to resources, there is no certainty that any portion of the resources will be discovered. If discovered, there is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any portion of the resources. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Canadian Oil Sands Limited Marcel Coutu President & Chief Executive Officer Units Listed - Symbol: COS.UN Toronto Stock Exchange

SOURCE Canadian Oil Sands Trust

Source: PR Newswire

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