The proposed Sturgeon Upgrader will be located 40 kilometers northeast of Edmonton and is being built to process bitumen from the Fort Hills Oil Sands mine located near Fort McMurray into synthetic crude oil. Phase 1 upgrader production is expected to be 140,000 barrels per day. Regulatory approval is anticipated in 2008 with upgrading operations to begin in 2012.

A feasibility study on the project is complete and detailed engineering has begun. When the wastewater project is fully up and running, it will be expected to meet all of the Sturgeon Upgrader's industrial water needs. This is an environmental home run for the Fort Hills partnership. Unlike many industrial processes, it is expected that the Upgrader site will run fully on wastewater and--in a full-circle cycle--send the Upgrader's wastewater back to the ACRWC for further treatment and redistribution.

"Instead of taking fresh water from the North Saskatchewan River for the Sturgeon Upgrader, we plan to use recycled water," said Neil Camarta, Petro-Canada's Senior Vice-President of Oil Sands. "This is a great example of industry and government working together to come up with a win-win solution--for the Fort Hills Project, for the Water Commission, for the County and, especially, for the environment. It's not just good business--it's simply the right thing to do."

This new project expands on experience and knowledge gained at the Gold Bar Wastewater Treatment Facility project where Petro-Canada, the City of Edmonton and Strathcona County provide treated wastewater to Petro-Canada's Edmonton Refinery.

Fort Hills Energy L.P. is a limited partnership comprised of Petro-Canada, Teck Cominco Limited, UTS Energy Corp. and the Fort Hills Energy Corporation as the General Partner. Pursuant to an MOA executed on September 19, 2007, the ownership of Fort Hills (when not taking into account the relatively small interest of the General Partner) will be Petro-Canada with a 60% working interest, UTS Energy Corporation with a 20% working interest and Teck Cominco Limited with a 20% working interest. Petro-Canada Oil Sands Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Petro-Canada, is the contract operator for the project.

Petro-Canada is one of Canada's largest oil and gas companies, operating in both the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry in Canada and internationally.

UTS Energy Corp. is focused on growing and developing oil sands assets, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.5 billion. The company was instrumental in re-establishing the Fort Hills Oil Sands Project and is the principal founder of the Fort Hills Energy Partnership.

Teck Cominco Limited is a diversified mining company, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. The company is a world leader in the production of zinc and metallurgical coal and is also a significant producer of copper, gold, indium and other specialty metals.