Amex: BQI
CALGARY, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oilsands Quest Inc. (AMEX:BQI) today announced the resumption of drilling on its Saskatchewan permits and the initiation of drilling on its contiguous Alberta permits. The company also announced its participation in two oil sands conferences being held later this month in London and Calgary.
Participation at upcoming conferences In January 2008, Oilsands Quest will participate in two private oil sands conferences: - Christopher H. Hopkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, will
address the TD Newcrest Oil Sands Forum 2008 conference in London,
England, on Monday, January 14. - Errin Kimball, Vice-President Exploration, will address the Insight
Canadian Oil Sands Summit in Calgary, Alberta, on Wednesday,
January 16.
The conferences are not open to the public; however, Oilsands Quest's presentation will be posted on the company's web site immediately following the January 14 conference (http://www.oilsandsquest.com/).
Saskatchewan program Activity at Oilsands Quest's Axe Lake Discovery area in northwest Saskatchewan resumed on January 2, 2008, following a 10-day Christmas break. In the winter months ahead, Oilsands Quest's objectives include the following: - Delineation drilling of the Axe Lake Discovery with four drill rigs
to provide improved certainty of the Discovered Resource, which has
been estimated in an independent evaluation at 1.55 billion barrels
of bitumen (High Estimate). - Advancement of commercialization of the Axe Lake Discovery with
drilling to further define the reservoir and its overburden
characteristics and to obtain drill core material for large-scale
recovery testing. - Exploration of undrilled areas of the Axe Lake Discovery, which
Oilsands Quest has internally estimated to contain Undiscovered
Resources of 1.0 billion barrels of bitumen. Future exploration
programs will address Oilsands Quest's estimate of additional
Undiscovered Resources of 3.0 billion barrels of bitumen outside the
Axe Lake Discovery area within Saskatchewan. - Completion of 3-D seismic programs to provide detailed, high-
resolution imaging of the Axe Lake Discovery for accurate planning
and implementation of an accelerated development program.
Oilsands Quest drilled 87 holes in its Fall 2007 drilling program in the Axe Lake Discovery area. Fall operations also included cutting approximately 500 miles (805 km) of seismic line covering 9.5 square miles (25 sq km). Since January 2006, Oilsands Quest has drilled a total of 261 exploration and delineation holes on its oil sands exploration permits in Saskatchewan.
The area of the Discovered Resources estimate within the Axe Lake Discovery covers approximately 36 sections (one township) of Permits PS00208 and PS00210 (100% Oilsands Quest) located in the north half of Township 94 and the south half of Township 95, Ranges 24 and 25 West of the Third Meridian. The Undiscovered Resource estimate within the Axe Lake Discovery covers approximately 72 sections in Townships 94 and 95 adjacent to the Discovered Resource locations (100% Oilsands Quest).
Alberta program Oilsands Quest recently received regulatory approval to initiate drilling on its oil sands exploration permits in northeast Alberta which are contiguous to its Saskatchewan permits. Management has estimated total Undiscovered Resources of 4.5 billion barrels of bitumen on these lands totaling an area of approximately 106 sections (approximately 3 townships) located in Townships 92 to 94 West of the Fourth Meridian (100% Oilsands Quest) adjacent to the Saskatchewan border.
Two core-hole drill rigs are being deployed immediately with two more scheduled for arrival later in January. The drilling program of 30 holes will focus on structures identified in portions of Townships 93 and 94 by 2-D seismic programs conducted by Oilsands Quest in 2007. During fall 2007, more than 300 miles (480 km) of 3-D seismic line covering approximately five square miles (13 sq km) were cut over structures in Alberta adjacent to the Axe Lake Discovery in Saskatchewan.
All of the Company's Discovered and Undiscovered Resource estimates are of in place volumes of bitumen and do not represent recoverable volumes. There is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any portion of the Discovered Resources. In the case of the Undiscovered Resources, there is no certainty that any portion will be discovered and, if discovered, that it will be commercially viable to produce. The independent Discovered Resources estimate is effective as of October 31, 2007 and Oilsands Quest's Undiscovered Resources estimates are effective as of July 12, 2007.
About Oilsands Quest Inc.
Oilsands Quest Inc. is aggressively exploring Canada's largest contiguous oil sands land holding by applying its technical expertise to develop multiple potential global-scale discoveries. The company is the originator of Saskatchewan's emerging oil sands industry.
Forward-looking information Except for statements of historical fact relating to Oilsands Quest, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements such as references to Oilsands Quest's resource estimates, exploration, technical and development programs and future discoveries are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, exploration and technical risks inherent in the oil sands industry, regulatory and economic risks, lack of infrastructure in the region in which the company's resources are located and risks associated with Oilsands Quest's ability to implement its business plan. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond Oilsands Quest's control, and no assurance can be given that the programs will be completed on time, on budget or at all. Oilsands Quest undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties set forth above are not exhaustive. Readers should refer to Oilsands Quest's current annual report on Form 10-KSB and other document filings, which are available at http://www.sedar.com/ and at http://www.sec.gov/ for a detailed discussion of these risks and uncertainties and details regarding the location and extent of Oilsands Quest's land holdings.
Definitions As defined in the COGE Handbook, "Discovered Resources are those quantities of oil and gas estimated on a given date to be remaining in, plus those quantities already produced from, known accumulations. Discovered Resources are divided into economic and uneconomic categories, with the estimated future recoverable portion classified as reserves and contingent reserves, respectively." The Discovered Resources estimates described above were determined in accordance with the COGE Handbook using the following mutually exclusive categories: - Low Estimate: This is considered to be a conservative estimate of the
quantity of bitumen that exists within the accumulation, which under
probabilistic methodology reflects a P90 confidence level. - Best Estimate: This is considered to be the best estimate of the
quantity of bitumen that exists within the accumulation. Under
probabilistic methodology, this term is a measure of the central
tendency of the uncertainty distribution (most likely/mode,
P50/median, or arithmetic average/mean). - High Estimate: This is considered to be an optimistic estimate of the
quantity of bitumen that exists within the accumulation, which under
probabilistic methodology reflects a P10 confidence level.
Discovered Resources can be further classified into four sub-categories: cumulative production; reserves; contingent resources; and unrecoverable resources. The Discovered Resources disclosed by Oilsands Quest in its independent Discovered Resource estimate can not at this time be classified into one of these four sub-categories for the following reasons: 1) cumulative production: no amount of production has yet taken place;
2) reserves: Oilsands Quest has not yet determined what in-situ recovery
process may be suitable for this Discovered Resource and consequently an
in-situ recovery factor has not been determined to estimate reserves;
3) contingent resources: Oilsands Quest expects that a portion of the
Discovered Resources will be economic to recover, but commercial project
economics have not yet been determined in absence of a determined
recovery method; and
4) unrecoverable resources: Oilsands Quest expects that portions of the
Discovered Resources will be classified as recoverable and unrecoverable,
but a suitable in-situ recovery process and consequently an in-situ
recovery factor have not yet been determined, therefore quantification of
these respective volumes cannot yet be made.
The commercial viability of the Discovered Resources at the Axe Lake Discovery, or whether currently available commercial recovery processes will be applicable, cannot be determined without further drilling, testing and analysis.
As defined in the COGE Handbook, "Undiscovered Resources are those quantities of oil and gas estimated on a given date to be contained in accumulations yet to be discovered." Oilsands Quest is committed to complying with the evolving regulatory requirements regarding resource and reserve reporting as mandated by National Instrument 51-101 in matters such as resource classification and terminology. The COGE Handbook is available online at http://www.petsoc.org/ and National Instrument 51-101 is available online at http://www.albertasecurities.com/. DATASOURCE: Oilsands Quest Inc.
CONTACT: General inquiries and retail investors, contact Hedlin Lauder Investor Relations Ltd., Toll Free 1-800-299-7823, Office (403) 232-6251, Email ; Institutional investors, contact BarnesMcInerney Inc., Toll Free 1-866-794-7288, Office (416) 371-0510, Email
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