CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Sept. 29, 2011) - Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. (News - Market indicators) reports that the Energy Resources Conservation Board has scheduled a hearing for March 6, 2012 in respect of our May River Phase 1 application. Our consultation efforts with the two parties who have filed valid Statements of Concern continue, in our ongoing attempt to clarify and resolve outstanding issues prior to the hearing.
We are also announcing that we have suspended air injection at the Conklin demonstration project after completing our wet combustion test. We have completed all of our near-term testing operations scheduled for Conklin and we will now suspend the facility until we finalize plans to either integrate it into the larger May River operations or abandon the site. We recently encountered evidence of combustion gas possibly migrating up into the McMurray A formation, where we own the bitumen rights, and we will continue to evaluate data from public sources and data being supplied by an area operator who has produced gas from the McMurray A formation in the past. We have not included the McMurray A resource potential in any of our bitumen resource estimates to date. The suspension of our Conklin operations will not impact our May River development plans.
Forward-Looking Statements: Certain information provided in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements. Specifically, this press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the timing for a regulatory hearing on our May River application and future plans for the Conklin facility. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of assumptions and judgments, including but not limited to, assumptions relating to the regulatory and legal environment. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect. Actual results achieved during the forecast period will vary from the information provided herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties. You can find a discussion of those risks and uncertainties in our Canadian securities filings. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general economic, market and business conditions; weather conditions and access to our properties; fluctuations in oil prices; changes in environmental and other regulations; uncertainties associated with the regulatory review and approval process in respect to our projects; risks associated with the application of early stage technology; risks associated with oil and gas operations; and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. There is no representation by Petrobank that actual results achieved during the forecast period will be the same in whole or in part as those forecasted. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Petrobank assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or otherwise, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Resources: In this press release, Petrobank uses the term "resources". "Resources" are oil and gas volumes that are estimated to have originally existed in the earth's crust as naturally occurring accumulations but are not capable of being classified as "reserves". Resources do not constitute, and should not be confused with, reserves. There is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any portion of the resources in the McMurray A formation of the May River property.
Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. is a Calgary-based oil and natural gas exploration and production company with operations in western Canada. The Company operates high-impact projects through two business units and a technology subsidiary. Petrobank's 59% owned TSX-listed subsidiary, PetroBakken Energy Ltd. (TSX:PBN), is an oil and gas exploration and production company combining light oil Bakken and Cardium resource plays with conventional light oil assets, delivering industry leading operating netbacks, strong cash flows and production growth. PetroBakken is applying leading edge technology to a multi‐year inventory of Bakken and Cardium light oil development locations, along with a significant inventory of opportunities in the Horn River and Montney gas resource plays in northeast BC. PetroBakken's strategy is to deliver accretive production and reserves growth, along with an attractive dividend yield. Whitesands Insitu Partnership, a partnership between Petrobank and its wholly-owned subsidiary Whitesands Insitu Inc., owns 104 net sections of oil sands leases in Alberta, 36 sections of oil sands licenses in Saskatchewan and 15 sections of petroleum and natural gas rights along the Kerrobert channel trend near Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, and operates the Kerrobert and Conklin projects which are field-demonstrating Petrobank's patented THAI® heavy oil recovery process. THAI® is an evolutionary in-situ combustion technology for the recovery of bitumen and heavy oil that integrates existing proven technologies and provides the opportunity to create a step change in the development of heavy oil resources globally. THAI® and CAPRI® are registered trademarks of Archon Technologies Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd., for specialized methods for recovery of oil from subterranean formations through in-situ combustion techniques and methodologies with or without upgrading catalysts. Used under license by Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd.