HONG KONG, CHINA and CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwired – March 29, 2016) – Sunshine Oilsands Ltd. (the “Corporation” or “Sunshine”) (HKSE:2012) today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and the year ended December 31, 2015. The Corporation’s consolidated financial statements, notes to the consolidated financial statements, Management’s Discussion and Analysis and Annual Information Form have been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and with The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Hong Kong Stock Exchange”) (www.hkexnews.hk) and are available on the Corporation’s website (www.sunshineoilsands.com). The Annual Information Form includes the Corporation’s reserves and resource data as at an effective date of December 31, 2015 as evaluated by GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd. and DeGolyer and MacNaughton Canada Limited and was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities. All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.
MESSAGE TO SHAREHOLDERS
For the year ended December 31, 2015, the Corporation achieved progress in the following areas:
- Completed West Ells Phase I construction activities on site;
- Substantially commissioned systems for the West Ells central processing plant and well pad;
- Completed all down hole equipment, installation and surface tie ins for eight West Ells well pairs;
- Successful start-up and operation of West Ells surface facilities in the central processing plant and well pad;
- Achieved first steam injection in two well pairs on September 22, 2015; achieved first oil production on December 7, 2015; and
- Demonstrated expected reservoir response to injection and production operations.
The Company currently expects to continue operation of the plant at a loss during the current challenging oil price environment to prove the reservoir performance.
Sunshine’s Capital Raising Activities
- On August 20, 2015, the Corporation completed a partial closing of a private placement offering of Class “A” common shares, (under the specific mandate), for a total of 111,214,210 Class “A” common shares at a price of HK$0.75 per share (approximately CDN$0.13 per share) for total gross proceeds of HK$83.4 million or approximately CDN$14.1 million.
- On September 30, 2015, the Corporation closed a private placement offering of Class “A” common shares, (under the general mandate), for a total of 100,000,000 class “A” common shares at a price of HK$0.50 per share (approximately CDN$0.08 per share) for total gross proceeds of HK$50 million or approximately CDN$8.6 million.
- On November 23, 2015, the Corporation closed a private placement offering of Class “A” common shares, (under the general mandate), for a total of 36,912,000 class “A” common shares at a price of HK$0.63 per share (approximately CDN$0.11 per share) for total gross proceeds of HK$23.3 million or approximately CDN$4.0 million.
- On November 30, 2015, the Corporation closed a private placement offering of Class “A” common shares, (under the general mandate), for a total of 78,125,000 class “A” common shares at a price of HK$0.64 per share (approximately CDN$0.11 per share) for total gross proceeds of HK$50 million or approximately CDN$8.6 million.
Summary of Financial Figures
For the fourth quarter of 2015, the Corporation had a net loss of $325.8 million, primarily attributable to asset impairments, compared to $12.3 million for the same period in 2014, representing a net loss per share for each respective year of $0.08 and $0.00. For the year ended December 31, 2015, the Corporation had a net loss of $406.1 million compared to $26.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, representing a net loss per share for each respective year of $0.10 and $0.01.
As at December 31, the Corporation notes the following selected balance sheet figures:
| 2015 ($000s) |
2014 ($000s) |
|||
| Cash | 6,545 | 136,097 | ||
| Current restricted cash and cash equivalents | 14,389 | 23,467 | ||
| Prepaid expenses and deposits | 8,119 | 5,843 | ||
| Non-current restricted cash and cash equivalents | – | 11,601 | ||
| Exploration and evaluation assets | 290,945 | 379,403 | ||
| Property, plant and equipment | 650,930 | 701,736 | ||
| Total liabilities | 369,083 | 288,044 | ||
| Shareholders’ equity | 604,098 | 972,016 |
Reserves and Resources
On March 29, 2016, the Corporation announced the results of its reserves and resources evaluations, effective as at December 31, 2015. For a full discussion of the Corporation’s reserves and resources data and other oil and gas information, see the “Statement of Reserves Data and Other Oil and Gas information” in the Corporation’s Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2015, a copy of which is available on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s website at www.hkexnews.hk, on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com and on the Corporation’s website at www.sunshineoilsands.com.
2016 Outlook
As at the date of this announcement, construction of the West Ells facilities is complete with first oil having been achieved in December 2015. As at the date of this release, all West Ells Phase I well pairs are either on steam injection or on production. The Company is fully committed to advancing its corporate initiatives and expects to operate the plant at a loss during the current challenging oil price environment to prove the reservoir performance.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our Board of Directors, our staff and our stakeholders for their continuing support for advancing our corporate initiatives during a challenging commodity price cycle. We intend to ensure that Phase 1 West Ells facilities operate efficiently and achieve nameplate capacity. At the same time, we are continuing with efforts to secure capital to support existing operations and to fund our expansion plans in West Ells and other clastic project areas.
| Hong Luo | Dr. Qi Jiang | |
| CEO | President & COO |
ABOUT SUNSHINE OILSANDS LTD.
The Corporation is a Calgary based public corporation, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since March 1, 2012. The Corporation was also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange from November 16, 2012 to September 30, 2015, when it chose to voluntarily delist. The Corporation is focused on the development of its significant holdings of oil sands leases in the Athabasca oil sands region. The Corporation owns interests in oil sands and petroleum and natural gas leases in the Athabasca region of Alberta. The Corporation is currently focused on executing milestone undertakings in the West Ells project area. West Ells has an initial production target rate of 5,000 barrels per day.