CALGARY, March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- (TSX - COS.UN) - Canadian Oil Sands Trust ("Canadian Oil Sands") today reported that the turnaround of Coker 8-3 planned for the first half of 2009 has commenced. The turnaround will include some comprehensive modifications to the unit aimed at improving yield and run length. The turnaround, including the associated modifications, was incorporated in the outlook provided by Canadian Oil Sands on January 28, 2009 and is expected to take approximately two months to complete.
Syncrude's Mildred Lake upgrading facility includes three cokers, which are the primary units that convert bitumen to upgraded crude oil.
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 (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 expectations for improvement to yield and run length of Coker 8-3 and the outlook provided by Canadian Oil Sands on January 28, 2009, as such relates to future revenues, operating costs, timing of maintenance and turnarounds in particular, capital expenditures, and cash from operating activities. 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
