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Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. Announces Approval of MacKay River Commercial Oil Sands Project
CALGARY, Dec. 28, 2011 /CNW/ - Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. (TSX:  ATH) is pleased to ann...
About this update from Athabasca Oil Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\nCALGARY, Dec. 28, 2011 /CNW/ - Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. (TSX:  ATH) is\n pleased to announce that MacKay Operating Corp. (MacKay Opco) has\n received full regulatory approval from Alberta Energy Resources\n Conservation Board and Alberta Environment and Water for the MacKay\n River commercial oil sands project.\n\n\nSveinung Svarte, president and CEO says, \"To obtain approval in just\n over 24-months is an achievement and Athabasca is very pleased with the\n regulatory process. The company filed the application on December 10,\n 2009 and MacKay Opco received the final approval on December 23, 2011. To achieve this major milestone, MacKay Opco's Regulatory and\n Stakeholder Affairs team effectively dealt with all stakeholders to\n resolve their concerns and get this commercial oil sands project\n endorsed by the regulators and the Alberta government.\"\n\n\nThe MacKay River project is a 150,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) steam\n assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) project with Phase 1 expected to\n produce 35,000 bbl/d of oil.  Construction of the project will begin\n next month with start-up targeted for 2014.\n\n\nMacKay Opco is a Calgary-based joint venture between Athabasca (40%) and\n Cretaceous Oilsands Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of\n PetroChina (60%). The company was formed to operate the jointly owned\n MacKay River oil sands leases.\n\n\nAthabasca is a dynamic company focused on development of oil resource\n plays in Alberta, Canada. It has accumulated a large, high quality\n resource base suitable for extraction of extra heavy crude oil\n (bitumen) and light oil. The company is well financed and, with its\n excellent assets and talented people, Athabasca is poised to become a\n major Canadian oil producer. It is traded on the TSX under the symbol\n ATH.\n\n\nReader Advisory\n\n\nThis News Release contains forward-looking information that involves\n various risks, uncertainties and other factors. All statements other\n than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. The\n use of any of the words \"expect\", \"may\", \"will\", \"project\", \"should\",\n \"targeted\" and similar expressions are intended to identify\n forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information is not\n historical fact, but rather is based on AOSC's current plans,\n objectives, goals, str...