All Major Equipment Ordered; Project Progressing
On-Schedule
CALGARY, Oct. 8, 2014 /CNW/ - US Oil Sands Inc. ("US
Oil Sands" or the "Company") (TSXV: USO), a company
focused on oil sands exploration and production in Utah today announced that it has now ordered
all of the major equipment components required for construction of
the PR Spring Project (the "Project"). The Company has
committed approximately US$17.9
million to the purchase of this equipment, engineering and
site construction and remains on schedule for field commissioning
in Q3 2015. The Company has substantially completed
construction of the plant site and has initiated foundation and
building construction.
"The procurement of long-lead equipment is an important
achievement for US Oil Sands as we transition from substantive
engineering and design efforts to initiating physical construction
of the extraction plant," said Cameron
Todd, CEO of US Oil Sands. "It's an exciting time for the
Company as we deploy our capital towards creating a low capital
cost and environmentally-sustainable oil sands mining project with
game-changing potential."
Project commitments of US$17.9
million to date include:
- Process extraction equipment, including all long-lead items.
The Company's procurement and supply chain management group,
working closely with its project and construction services manager,
Kellogg Brown & Root LLC's ("KBR") Salt Lake City-based team, have been
successful in holding or reducing delivery times on this equipment,
a key towards meeting scheduled field delivery dates. Every major
piece of process equipment has been evaluated to ensure best
process performance, delivery-time and cost.
- Engineering; overall project engineering is being performed by
KBR with Stantec and Norwest contributing environmental and mine
engineering respectively.
- Field work; work performed has been focused on preparing the
plant-site to accept delivery of process extraction equipment
modules, including the construction of a warehouse prior to
year-end. Additionally, utility supply infrastructure and roadways
have been completed.
"We have been diligent in the engineering and procurement
process such that in addition to keeping on-target with our
schedule, we've continued to optimize the Project's design with
resultant operational and environmental benefits," said Mr.
Todd. "This is evident in the decision to replace the plant's
power supply with natural gas-fired turbines that incorporate
improved heat recovery from electrical power co-generation. These
improvements will reduce the use of fuel, further enhancing the
Project's already best-in-class environmental profile."
OUTLOOK
For the remainder of 2014, the Company will continue to focus on
detailed engineering of the modules. Management anticipates that
the off-site fabrication of the process extraction plant will begin
in the first quarter of 2015, with final off-site fabrication and
field assembly occurring in mid-2015, followed by commissioning and
commercial start-up.
ABOUT US OIL SANDS INC.
US Oil Sands is engaged in the exploration and development of
oil sands properties and, through its wholly owned United States subsidiary US Oil Sands
(Utah) Inc., has a 100% interest
in bitumen leases covering 32,005 acres of land in Utah's Uinta Basin. The Company plans to
develop its oil sands properties using its proprietary extraction
process which uses a bio-solvent to extract bitumen from oil sands
without the need for tailings ponds. The Company is in the
pre-production stage, anticipating the commencement of bitumen
production and sales in 2015.
The foregoing information contains forward-looking information
relating to the future performance of the Company including
information relating to the development and construction of the PR
Spring Project, and commencement of commercial production. Forward
looking information is subject to a number of known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual
results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward
looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among
others, the actual results of exploration activities, changes in
world commodity markets or equity markets, the risks of the
petroleum industry including, without limitation, those associated
with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals,
permits or financing or in the completion of development or
construction activities, title disputes, change in government and
changes to regulations affecting the oil and gas industry, and
other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the
Company's filings with the Canadian securities administrators
(available at www.SEDAR.com). Forward-looking statements are made
based on various assumptions and on management's beliefs, estimates
and opinions on the date the statements are made. Should one or
more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should
underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary
materially from those described in the forward-looking information
contained herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update
forward-looking statements if these assumptions, beliefs, estimates
and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as
required by applicable law.
Discovered bitumen resources or discovered bitumen
initially-in-place is that quantity of bitumen that is estimated,
as of a given date, to be contained in known accumulations on
Company lands prior to production. Best estimate is considered to
be the best estimate of the quantity that will actually be
in-place. It is equally likely that the actual remaining
quantities in-place will be greater or less than the best estimate.
There is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to
produce any portion of the resources. Additional information
relating to resource estimates is contained in the Company's
Statement of Resources Data and Other Oil and Gas Information for
the year ended December 31, 2013
dated April 2, 2014 and available on
SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
SOURCE US Oil Sands Inc.