CALGARY, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- OSUM Oil Sands Corp., the only junior oil sands company with a material position in the proven Cold Lake thermal trend, today announced an expansion of its team to include three new hires with current Cold Lake commercial project experience. These new hires bring 80 years management, operations and specialized technical expertise to an innovative, Alberta-based oil sands company that has already managed to attract some of the most pre-eminent talent in the industry.
The new team members include Dr. Qi Jiang, Enhanced Oil Recovery and Reservoir Engineering Manager, Brad Braun, Environmental and Stakeholder Relations Manager, and Dave Taylor, Drilling Manager. Their capabilities are added to those of Bruce Thornton, who possesses substantial experience at the leading edge of Cold Lake thermal development and was brought on board as Development and Regulatory Manager in October 2007.
"OSUM's recent hires have cemented our team with the strongest possible combination of geoscience and engineering expertise, business skills, and relevant experience developing reservoirs in the Cold Lake thermal trend," said OSUM CEO Richard Todd. "Together with our existing management, these individuals will maximize the value of our Cold Lake reservoirs. Their concentrated Cold Lake expertise, dynamic track records and innovative mindsets will help OSUM take huge strides in Alberta's bitumen industry." In his new role, Dr. Qi Jiang P. Eng., Ph.D. will be responsible for finding ways to increase recovery factors and maximize reservoir productivity. Dr. Jiang has over 20 years of industry and research experience in the area of heavy oil and oil sands development. He served most recently as an exploitation lead of thermal development at CNRL for over 8 years, where he was involved in thermal operations, reservoir modeling, strategic planning and acquisitions, technology development and field testing of new thermal and solvent related recovery processes. He also assisted in the submissions for the Kirby and Primrose East commercial applications, as well as gas over bitumen hearing. Prior to CNRL, he worked with Dr. Roger Butler (inventor of SAGD) at GravDrain Inc. Butler's Calgary based consulting firm which specialized in SAGD and horizontal well technologies. Prior to coming to Canada, Mr. Jiang was a reservoir engineering manager at PetroChina where he was involved in a number of thermal recovery projects. He has published over 20 technical papers on thermal and non-thermal recovery processes including SAGD, VAPEX, CSS and SAGP. He has been invited as a panel speaker at international conferences primarily on his experiences with SAGD and CSS development. Dr. Jiang conducted his Ph. D. and M.Sc. studies, which focused on development of SAGD and VAPEX processes, under the inventor of SAGD, Dr. Roger Butler.
Mr. Bruce Thornton P.Eng. will be responsible for project development on OSUM's Cold Lake north lands, and oversee the regulatory submission, which is anticipated in Q4 of 2009. Mr. Thornton has 26 years experience primarily in production and operations engineering with Dome Petroleum, Amoco Canada and Canadian Natural. Over the past 17 years he has worked in thermal and primary heavy oil production operations in several areas in Alberta both at a supervisory and technical level capacity. Prior to joining OSUM, he served as a Production/Development Engineer at Canadian Natural, responsible for the submission of the Primrose East Application and the subsequent drilling and completions program. Previously Mr. Thornton was also a key participant on the Amoco Canada Heavy Oil Strategy Team, which helped lay the foundation for their initial heavy oil operations in Canada. Mr. Thornton is a member of APEGGA and CIM.
Mr. Brad Braun P.Eng. will manage the consultation process for the Cold Lake development and ensuring a clear line of communication between all stakeholders and the company. With over 20 years experience, Mr. Braun comes to OSUM from CNRL, where he served as Environment Manager and Engineer for the past 9 years. In this role, he obtained environmental and regulatory approval for CNRL's Wolf Lake/Primrose thermal project expansion and developed long-term relationships with numerous key stakeholders in the Cold Lake area. Mr. Braun has been active in discussions and negotiations with regulators and other oil sands industry colleagues through work with key committees such as the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers' Water Task Group and has been a board member of the Lakeland Industry and Community Association (LICA).
Mr. Dave Taylor is a technical specialist who will oversee all aspects of drilling and well completion for the project. Mr. Taylor is a drilling veteran and brings over 33 years experience drilling hundreds of wells to OSUM. He served as drilling coordinator for Phase 1 of Encana's Foster Creek SAGD project, drilling and completing the initial 24 SAGD well pairs. Mr. Taylor has worked on many bitumen and heavy oil projects for numerous companies including Imperial (Cold Lake), Atlas Energy, Mobil Oil, Canadian Occidental, and AEC Oil & Gas.
It is anticipated that OSUM will reach commercial production on its Cold Lake holdings by 2013. The company has stated its commitment to solutions that reduce impact to wildlife and habitat, use less water and minimize emissions.
OSUM Oil Sands Corp. is a privately held, Alberta based company whose mission is to provide secure, safe energy to North Americans though innovative and environmentally responsible business practice. DATASOURCE: OSUM Oil Sands Corp.
CONTACT: Paul J.C. McDougall, Chief Financial Officer, OSUM Oil Sands Corp., 3rd Floor, 1204 Kensington Road NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 3P5, (403) 270-4754; Richard A.M. Todd, Chief Executive Officer, OSUM Oil Sands Corp., 3rd Floor, 1204 Kensington Road NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 3P5, (403) 283-3226
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