Athabasca Oil Corporation was informed by Alliance Pipeline of the shutdown of its mainline pipeline system late last week. Alliance advised shippers Thursday evening that an amount of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) entered into its mainline pipeline as result of complications experienced by an upstream operator.

Alliance has declared this to be a force majeure event. Athabasca has shifted a portion of its regional Kaybob production to the SemCAMS KA plant and TCPL system, however approximately 4,200 boe/d of the Company's Light Oil production is currently impacted.

While Alliance has not provided guidance for resumption of service on the system, the current expectation is for service to be returned this week. For reference, five days of downtime would have an approximate 250 boe/d impact on Athabasca's third quarter Light Oil production guidance of 5,000 boe/d. The Company reiterates its 2015 corporate exit guidance of 10,000 - 14,000 boe/d. Athabasca will provide updates as additional information becomes available.

Tags: Athabasca Oil Corporation