CALGARY, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- (TSX - COS.UN) - Canadian Oil Sands Trust ("Canadian Oil Sands") today reported that production from Syncrude's Coker 8-3 was interrupted on September 30 as a result of an operational upset.
Syncrude is currently investigating the cause of the upset and working to restore Coker 8-3 operations over the next few days; however, if the solution requires the removal of coke deposits within the vessel, the duration of the outage could be approximately three weeks. Syncrude has immediately begun to ramp up production on Coker 8-2 and may also increase rates on Coker 8-1 to mitigate the production shortfall. Syncrude's productive capacity is currently reduced by about 70,000 barrels per day.
Pending clarification as to the cause of the operational upset and the expected return to service of Coker 8-3, Canadian Oil Sands is unable to provide any information regarding the potential impact on October production and operating cost estimates.
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.
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 479.3 million units outstanding, trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol COS.UN.
Advisory: In the interest of providing Canadian Oil Sands (the "Trust" or "we") 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 press release contain "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the expected timing of Coker 8-3 being returned to service.
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 press release include, but are not limited to: the difficulties and risks involved in any complex mining and upgrading operation and such other risks and uncertainties described from time to time in the reports and filings made with securities regulatory authorities by the Trust. We would refer you to the risks and assumptions further outlined in the Trust's annual information form and annual and quarterly financial reports.
Canadian Oil Sands Limited Marcel Coutu President & Chief Executive Officer Units Listed - Symbol: COS.UN Toronto Stock Exchange
