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News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

ERCB RECEIVES TAILINGS POND PLANS FILED BY OIL SANDS OPERATORS

Calgary, Alberta (October 1, 2009) The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) has received plans with dates for construction, use and closure of fluid tailings ponds from six Alberta oil sands operators as required by Directive 074: Tailings Performance Criteria and Requirements for Oil Sands Mining Schemes.

Directive 074: Tailings Performance Criteria and Requirements for Oil Sands Mining Schemes requires operators to prepare tailings plans and report on tailings ponds annually, reduce fluid tailings through fines captured in dedicated disposal areas (DDAs), and convert fines into trafficable deposits which are ready for reclamation five years after deposits have ceased.

Each of Albian Sands Energy Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources Ventures Limited, Shell Canada Inc., Suncor Energy Ltd. and Syncrude have submitted tailings plans under Directive 074. The ERCB will now conduct a detailed and comprehensive technical review of the plans. The plans will not be approved until the ERCB is satisfied that they comply with ERCB requirements. Pending scanning into digital format, the plans will be available via the ERCB website. It is anticipated they will be available on Monday, October 5, 2009.

“Tailings” is a term used to describe waste from oil sands extraction processes. This waste is generally composed of water, sands, silt, clay and residual bitumen. Alberta’s inventory of fluid fine tailings that require long term containment is now 720 million cubic metres.

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This news release is available on the ERCB website at www.ercb.ca

For more information, contact:
Davis Sheremata, ERCB Communications
Phone: 403-605-4216, Email: davis.sheremata@ercb.ca

NR 2009-26

ERCB staff are currently in progress posting each company’s tailings plans to the website. They can be found on the Directive 074 webpage, accessible by clicking here.