CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwired – Sept. 16, 2016) – BlackPearl Resources Inc. (“BlackPearl” or the “Company”) (TSX:PXX)(OMX:PXXS) is pleased to announce that its 80,000 barrel per day commercial development application at Blackrod, located in the Athabasca Oil Sands, has received regulatory and environmental approval from the Alberta Energy Regulator and the Alberta government.
John Festival, President and CEO of BlackPearl commented that “in addition to extensive delineation drilling and seismic coverage over the application area we have run a successful SAGD pilot at Blackrod during the last four years that validated the SAGD process on our lease. In conjunction with this work we filed a commercial development application and after a long and thorough review of our proposed development we are very pleased with the decision of the regulators and the provincial government. With a successful pilot, which has averaged in excess of 550 barrels of oil per day over the last 16 months with a steam oil ratio of 2.8, and commercial development approval our next steps are to secure funding for the project. We believe the long life, low decline nature of these assets provide a very attractive opportunity. This approval also represents a major step towards our long term strategy to transition to a significant thermal oil producer.”
At December 31, 2015 our independent reserves evaluator assigned 180 million barrels of proved plus probable bitumen reserves to our Blackrod leases and an additional 453 million barrels of contingent resource (risked, best estimate). At 80,000 barrels per day, these reserves and resources represent a production life in excess of 20 years.
Forward-looking Statements
This release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to as “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of historic fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by such words as “seek”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “project”, “potential”, “targeting”, “intend”, “could”, “might”, “should”, “believe” or similar words suggesting future events or future performance.
In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, this report contains forward-looking statements pertaining to estimated reserves and contingent resources of our Blackrod SAGD project.
The forward-looking statements in this document reflect certain assumptions and expectations by management. The key assumptions that have been made in connection with these forward-looking statements include the continuation of current or, where applicable, assumed industry conditions, the continuation of existing tax, royalty and regulatory regimes, commodity price and cost assumptions, the continued availability of cash flow or financing on acceptable terms to fund the Company’s capital programs, the accuracy of the estimate of the Company’s reserves and resource volumes and that BlackPearl will conduct its operations in a manner consistent with past operations. Although management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, risks associated with fluctuations in market prices for crude oil, natural gas and diluent; risks related to the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and NGLs reserves; general economic, market and business conditions; substantial capital requirements; uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of reserves and resources; extent of, and cost of compliance with, government laws and regulations and the effect of changes in such laws and regulations from time to time; the need to obtain regulatory approvals on projects before development commences; environmental risks and hazards and the cost of compliance with environmental regulations; aboriginal claims; inherent risks and hazards with operations such as fire, explosion, blowouts, mechanical or pipe failure, cratering, oil spills, vandalism and other dangerous conditions; potential cost overruns; variations in foreign exchange rates; diluent supply shortages; competition for capital, equipment, new leases, pipeline capacity and skilled personnel; uncertainties inherent in the SAGD bitumen and ASP recovery processes; credit risks associated with counterparties; the failure of the Company or the holder of licenses, leases and permits to meet requirements of such licenses, leases and permits; reliance on third parties for pipelines and other infrastructure; changes in royalty regimes; failure to accurately estimate abandonment and reclamation costs; inaccurate estimates and assumptions by management; effectiveness of internal controls; the potential lack of available drilling equipment and other restrictions; failure to obtain or keep key personnel; title deficiencies with the Company’s assets; geo-political risks; risks that the Company does not have adequate insurance coverage; risk of litigation and risks arising from future acquisition activities. Further information regarding these risk factors and others may be found under “Risk Factors” in the Annual Information Form.
Undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that the actual results achieved will vary from the information provided herein and the variations could be material. Readers are also cautioned that the foregoing list of assumptions, risks and factors is not exhaustive. Consequently, there is no assurance by the Company that actual results achieved will be the same in whole or in part as those set out in the forward-looking statements. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date hereof, and the Company does not undertake any obligation, except as required by applicable securities legislation, to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
Contingent resources are defined in the COGE Handbook as those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from known accumulations using established technology or technology under development, but are not currently considered to be commercially recoverable due to one or more contingencies. Contingencies may include factors such as economic, legal, environmental, political and regulatory matters or a lack of markets. There is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any of the contingent resources. Best estimate (P50) is a classification of estimated resources described in the COGE Handbook as being considered to be the best estimate of the quantity that will be actually recovered. It is equally likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will be greater or less than the best estimate. If probabilistic methods are used, there should be at least a 50% probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the best estimate. Please refer to our Annual Information Form for a more detailed discussion of our contingent resources and the contingencies for each property.
The information in this release is subject to the disclosure requirements of BlackPearl Resources Inc. under the EU Market Abuse Regulation and/or the Swedish Securities Market Act. This information was publicly communicated on September 15, 2016 at 11:00 p.m. Mountain Time.
John Festival
President and Chief Executive Officer
(403) 215-8313
BlackPearl Resources Inc
Don Cook
Chief Financial Officer
(403) 215-8313
BlackPearl Resources Inc
Robert Eriksson
Investor Relations Sweden
+46 701-112615