Canadian Oil Sands Provides Information on Process Incident at Syncrude Upgrader

CALGARY, AB--(Marketwired - August 30, 2015) - (TSX: COS) -- Early on August 29, a process fire occurred in the interconnecting piping between the hydrotreating units and environmental units at Syncrude's Mildred Lake upgrader. Emergency personnel quickly responded to the incident and safely extinguished the fire. No injuries were associated with the event and there was no environmental impact.

Syncrude is currently developing a full recovery plan, beginning with an investigation to determine the cause of the incident. The main coker conversion units were not damaged and Syncrude continues to operate, however, synthetic crude oil production has been temporarily suspended while a recovery and repair strategy are being developed.

Canadian Oil Sands maintains US$1.65 billion of combined property and business interruption insurance, with repairs for damaged plant and equipment subject to a $US nine million deductible, net to Canadian Oil Sands.

Canadian Oil Sands will provide more information, including an assessment of the estimated production and cost impact, when available.

Located near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Syncrude Canada operates oil-sands mines and an upgrading facility that produces a light, sweet crude oil on behalf of its joint venture owners, which include Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. (36.74 percent), Imperial Oil Resources (25 percent), Suncor Energy Ventures Partnership (12 percent), Sinopec Oil Sands Partnership (9.03 percent), Nexen Oil Sands Partnership (7.23 percent), Mocal Energy Limited (5 percent), Murphy Oil Company Ltd. (5 percent).

Canadian Oil Sands Ltd.
COS holds a 36.74 percent interest in the Syncrude project, the largest producer of light, sweet synthetic oil from Canada's oil sands. As a pure play in Syncrude, COS provides investors with long-life, light crude oil exposure and since 2001 has paid dividends totaling $7.8 billion.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION ADVISORY: in the interest of providing Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. ("Canadian Oil Sands" or the "Company") Shareholders and potential investors with information regarding the Company, including management's assessment of the extent of damage or impact of the fire on Syncrude's operations and any impact on the Company including without limitation the expected impact on production, costs, any claim on insurance, and the impact on crude oil shipments. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. Although the Company believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Some of the risks and other factors which could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements contained in this release include, but are not limited to: the estimated time to complete the investigation, the extent of repairs and the impact on production and costs, issues relating to the operation of complex operations such as upgrading of oil sands; labour and cost pressures in the oil sands industry and in the Fort McMurray area in particular; the regulatory changes that impact oil and gas operations; general economic, business and market conditions; commodity prices; and such other risks and uncertainties described from time to time in the reports and filings made with securities regulatory authorities by the Company. You are cautioned that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this release are made as of the date of this release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation 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 in this release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The information was approved by management on August 30, 2015 and circumstances after this date may change the outcomes or results achieved. See more at: www.cdnoilsands.com

Contact

For further information contact:

Siren Fisekci
VP, Investor & Corporate Relations

Scott Arnold
Director, Investor & Corporate Relations

(403) 218-6220
invest@cdnoilsands.com