Rig Activity Report

 DRILLING AND SERVICE RIG ACTIVITY

Daily Well Bulletin

April 29, 2013    Daily Well Bulletin and Weekly Summary of Total Wells Drilled. Well bulletins are generated when a new licence is issued or an existing licence is amended.

Co-op Refinery Expansion Complete

Regina – Seven years from conception, four-and-a-half years of construction
and a cool $2.66 billion later, it’s done. The Consumers’ Co-operative
Refineries Ltd. expansion has been completed.
Scott Banda, CEO for Federated Co-operatives Ltd., spoke to Pipeline
News by phone on Oct. 26 after the announcement. He said, “Today we had
the official announcement of the start-up of section V. As of Wednesday, Oct.
17, Section V started up and we are ramping up. It’s up and running!”
“We maxed out at 5,000 people on this site at the peak of construction.
There were two pieces of our construction: Section V and the revamps. The revamps,
we’re still a couple months from finishing. But we will add 45 per cent
capacity to our facility. That takes us up to 145,000 barrels a day.”
There were 8,000 person-years of construction, with an economic spinoff of
over $5 billion dollars.
He said, “To get us through that, about 150 companies worked on the construction.
Today we’re pretty excited to celebrate it’s up and producing.
“One advantage of our refinery is we’re very flexible on crude weights.
We run them all through our facility and yes, part of it does come out of the
oilsands.
Southeast Saskatchewan crude. Is the “wrong way on the pipeline,” and
goes the other direction, however. But Lloydminster crude finds its way to
Regina.
“Depending on what the economics are, we can move between light, heavy,
sour or sweet. That’s what gives us one of the advantages on the economic side.
We can move as we have to, to ensure our production, but also to accommodate
the economics,” Banda said.
Saskatchewan’s daily production of crude oil has risen from roughly
425,000 bpd over the past 10 years to 440,000 bpd. The refinery will be dealing
with some of that increased production, particularly on the Lloydminster side.
“Anything that’s up the pipeline, by and large, will come into our facility.”
“Part of our story here is our ownership. As a co-operative, we’re Western
Canadian-based, this is a massive investment in this region in Western Canada.
In Saskatchewan, in particular, in the city of Regina, this will add another 100
permanent jobs. There are 800 permanent employees there, plus another 1,000
we use on annual turnarounds. This is, from our perspective, a commitment to
Western Canada’s long term viability. We believe in it. This is our home, here,
in Western Canada, of own ownership and retail co-operatives.
“That’s a big piece of this story. We have made a massive commitment to
the energy business to be here for the long term.”
Section V will see largely gasoline and diesel production.
On Oct 6, 2011, a fire in an older part of the refinery injured several workers
and damaged one of the areas being revamped. That area requiring extensive
rebuilding.
“That was in the area where the revamps are. We’re probably about two
months away from where we want it. The end of December, early January, we
should have that all rebuilt. Where the incident did occur, we tore it right out
and rebuilt a whole lot of that facility in that area.
“It has put us back a little bit”
The final dollar amount, $2.66 billion, was higher than what was initially
projected. “The additional cost was productivity. We didn’t get the productivity
we thought, on site. (There were) challenges in labour, in Western Canada,
in this economy. And frankly, not fully appreciating working in live, existing,
operating units affected our productivity. Costs escalated on us. That’s not
something we’re really excited about, but that’s the reality.
Asked about any more future expansions, Banda said, “This maximizes production
from this facility. In other words, is a Section VI likely? Not likely. In
order to build a new section, you would have to basically build a new refinery
on the same site.
“This maximizes the ability of the process units we have on site. Further
expansion on this site – never say never – is not very likely.”
“This growth was a reflection of the growth on the retail side. We built this
to accommodate where we are right now with our retail,” he concluded.

By Brian Zinchuk

Reaction Oilfield Supply fills retail void in Oxbow

Study finds no CO2 leaking from oilfield work

Scientists contracted by Cenovus Energy Inc. have found carbon dioxide injected to the company's oilfield in Weyburn, Sask., is staying put deep underground.

The Calgary-based oil company told the Saskatchewan government it would find out whether gas from its operations was leaking onto a nearby property and hired several third-party specialists to conduct an assessment.

"These results provide complete assurance to landowners and the public that the CO2 we're injecting about 1.5 kilometres below the ground is staying put and that our Weyburn operation is safe," said company vice-president Brad Small.

The findings of a separate independent study — by the International Performance Assessment Centre for Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide — are set to be released in about two weeks in Regina.

Cenovus pumps CO2 into the mature Weyburn field in order to boost production, as well as to store the climate-change causing gas underground rather than have it escape into the atmosphere. It operates the unit on behalf of 23 other partners.

"Our findings indicate that there is absolutely no way CO2 in the soil at the property in question originated from Cenovus' operation in Weyburn," said Court Sandau, the lead scientist of the assessment.

Sandau, the founder of ChemistryMatters, said scientists can tell the difference between "old" and "new" CO2. The gas Cenovus pumps underground is from coal deposits formed millions of years ago.

"Our findings assert that the CO2 present at the property was formed recently and is attributed to natural soil respiration processes."

The property owners, Cameron and Jane Kerr, have said that, beginning in 2005, they noticed algae blooms, clots of foam and multicoloured scum in two ponds at the bottom of a gravel quarry on their land. They also said that small animals were regularly found dead a few metres away.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2011/11/29/sk-weyburn-carbon-111129.html

Alberta Star to Participate in Drilling Another Well at Landrose, Saskatchewan

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Nov 17, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Alberta Star Development Corp. CA:ASX 0.00% ASXSF -3.39% (frankfurt:QLD) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has agreed to participate in drilling and completing one (0.5 net) well (the "Well") located on the Company's Landrose property located in west central Saskatchewan. The Company holds a 50% net interest in the lands.

The costs to drill, complete and equip the Well are estimated to be $420,000, which the Company intends to fund its 50% interest by contributing all of its interest (50% net interest) in certain oilfield equipment with a deemed value of $60,000 to equip the Well and $150,000 cash.

Western Plains Petroleum is operator and the spud date for the Well expected to be on or about November 20, 2011, subject to rig availability and regulatory approvals.

ALBERTA STAR DEVELOPMENT CORP.

The Company is a Canadian resource exploration and development company that identifies, acquires and finances oil and natural gas assets in Western Canada and advanced stage mineral exploration projects in North America. The Company has expanded its diversification into the oil and natural gas resource sector with the acquisition of revenue producing oil & gas resource assets which compliments its existing, advanced stage mining interests. The Company is a junior heavy oil producer that is focusing on growing its production base and maximizing future production through its exploration drilling activities, production acquisitions and strategic asset acquisition both domestically and in the international arena. The Company's strong balance sheet is expected to enable the Company to continue to increase its production base in the oil and gas sector.

INVESTOR RELATIONS

Investors are welcomed to contact Mario Drolet MI 3 Communications Financiers Inc. at (514) 346-3813, the Company's Investor Relations specialists for all corporate updates, and investor inquiries.

Reader Advisory

Certain information in this Press Release is forward-looking within the meaning of certain securities legislation, and is subject to important risks, uncertainties and assumptions. This forward-looking information includes, among other things, information with respect to the Company's beliefs, plans, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions, including the completion and success of future development activities, the performance of new wells, general economic conditions, availability of required equipment and services and prevailing commodity prices. The words "may", "could", "should", "would", "suspect", "outlook", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "target" and similar words and expressions are used to identify forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this Press Release describes the Company's expectations as of the date of this Press Release.

Material factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, among others, risks arising from general economic conditions and adverse industry events, risks arising from operations generally, changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health, safety and environmental risks, commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations; reliance on contractual rights such as licenses and leases in the conduct of its business, reliance on third parties, reliance on key personnel, possible failure of the business model or business plan or the inability to implement the business model or business plan as planned, competition, environmental matters, and insurance or lack thereof and the other factors described under "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual reports and Form 20-F available in Canada at www.sedar.com , as well as on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive, is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. When relying on the Company's forward-looking information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. It has also assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward-looking information to differ materially from actual results or events. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as the term is defined in the Policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.