EXHIBIT 99.1
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[GRAPHICS OMITTED - LOGO, PHOTOGRAPHS]
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News Release ------------- --------------- ------------
Discipline Opportunity Strategy
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CANADIAN NATURAL RESOURCES LIMITED ANNOUNCES
FOURTH QUARTER 2007 UPDATE ON THE PROGRESS OF
THE HORIZON OIL SANDS PROJECT
CALGARY, ALBERTA - FEBRUARY 12, 2008 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Canadian Natural Resources Limited ("Canadian Natural") is pleased to provide
its regular quarterly update on the Horizon Oil Sands Project ("Horizon
Project").
Commenting on fourth quarter progress on the Horizon Oil Sands Project, Real
Doucet, Sr. Vice President, Oil Sands stated, "We achieved 90% completion of
the Horizon Project by year-end 2007, a major accomplishment, which remains on
track for first oil in the third quarter of 2008. The remaining 10%, however,
is in many ways the toughest as it is the most labour intensive portion of the
Horizon Project. Unfortunately, mid to late January and early February saw a
significant deterioration in labour productivity on the construction site as
much colder than normal weather seriously curtailed activity. The weather also
affected the commissioning schedule of certain plants; however, at present this
is not expected to have any impact on our targeted completion of Phase 1."
"As of December 31, 2007 our forecasted total costs of the Horizon Project were
at 13.4% over our $6.8 billion Board of Directors authorization. We just
completed a thorough review of the productivity that we have recently
experienced at the Horizon Project construction site and have determined that
should no improvements in productivity be achieved through the remainder of
construction, then the cost estimate for Phase 1 of the Horizon Project would
need to be increased to 28% above the original $6.8 billion Board
authorization. If we can regain targeted labour efficiencies and productivity,
this overage could be reduced to approximately 25% above the original $6.8
billion Board authorization. This range of outcomes will result in an on-stream
cost of less than $80,000 bbl/d of capacity, including the benefits of the
significant pre-build capital invested for Phase 2/3.
In the fourth quarter of 2007, we reached many significant milestones including
completion of the tailings pond, filling of the raw water pond and preparing
two tanks to receive start-up diluent in January. We have experienced minor
slippage in certain non-critical path plants where mechanical completion has
moved from the end of the second quarter to early in the third quarter - having
no expected impact however on targeted Project completion. Our critical path
plants, Delayed Coker / Diluent Recovery Unit and Hydrotreater remain on track
for first oil in the third quarter of this year.
In parallel with completing major systems, we are getting ready for operations.
Our rate of operations hiring and training has gained significant momentum with
100% of Mining, 89% of Bitumen Extraction, 80% of Upgrading and 76% of
Utilities and Offsites staffing requirements hired to date. We have also now
awarded all of the maintenance contracts, with these contractors immediately
mobilizing to site in the last part of the fourth quarter of 2007.
We remain focused on timely completion of Phase 1, while getting ready to
operate the new facilities. Meanwhile, following Board authorization to proceed
with Tranche 2 of our next expansion, we were immediately able to award a
contract for an additional Ore Prep Plant to an existing contractor that is
performing well. In addition, other long lead equipment (Coke Drums and
Reactors) for Phase 2/3 will be delivered to site during the first quarter of
2008, as we look forward to successful construction and completion of future
phases."
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PROJECT STATUS SUMMARY
SEPTEMBER 30, 2007 DECEMBER 31, 2007 MARCH 31, 2008
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Q4/07 Original Q1/08 Original
ACTUAL ACTUAL FORECAST PLAN FORECAST PLAN
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Phase 1 - Work progress (cumulative) 84% 90% 90% 94% 95% 97%
Phase 1 - Construction capital spending* 89% 99% 99% 92% 110% 97%
(cumulative)
*Relative to overall Phase 1 project capital of $6.8 billion
ACCOMPLISHED TO THE END OF THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 2007
DETAILED ENGINEERING
o Overall detailed engineering 98.5% complete and substantially complete in
most areas.
PROCUREMENT
o Overall procurement progress is 99% complete.
o Awarded over $5.6 billion in purchase orders and contracts to date.
o Only one significant contract remains to be awarded for Phase 1 - mechanical
for Sulphur Blocking.
o Commenced receipt and site assembly of Mine Operations Equipment (Shovels and
Heavy Haul Trucks).
o Operations and maintenance service and supply agreements have been awarded.
MODULARIZATION
o Delivered an additional 54 oversized loads to site for a total of 1,560
loads, representing approximately 94% of the total requirement. Remaining
deliveries consist primarily of the balance of required Mine Operations
Equipment (Shovels and Heavy Haul Trucks).
CONSTRUCTION
o Overall construction progress is 85% complete.
o Mine overburden removal has moved 49.9 million bank cubic meters, which
represents approximately 72% of the total to be moved and is 0.6 million bank
cubic meters ahead of schedule.
o Main Control Room Distributed Control Systems equipment powered and tested.
o Commissioned 260kV Transmission line and turned over to operations.
o Commissioned Raw Water Pumphouse and turned over to operations.
o Completed reformer erection in Hydrogen Plant.
o Completed installation and pre-commissioning of CPI Separator Building.
o Completed the closure of Dyke 10 (external tailings pond) in Mining.
o Completed erection of Crushing Plants and conveyors in Ore Preparation Area.
o Completed Primary Separation Cells in Extraction.
o Completed construction of Main Laboratory.
MILESTONES FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2008
o Mechanically Complete Extraction Plant.
o Mechanically Complete Froth Treatment Plant.
o Mechanically Complete Amine Plant.
o Complete Auxiliary Boiler installation in Cogeneration.
o Complete Piping in Heat Integration.
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PLANT AND SYSTEM COMMISSIONING SCHEDULE
COMPLETED
o Permanent Potable Water Treatment
o Permanent Sewage Treatment
o Natural Gas Pipeline
o Raw and Recycled Water Pipelines
o River Water Intake and Pumphouse
o Raw Water Pond and Pumphouse
o Recycle Water Pond and Pumphouse
o Electrical Distribution System
Q1 2008
o Tanks 11 and 12 completed for early diluent fill
o Main Piperack
o Instrument and Utility Air System
o Flare System
Q2 2008
o Cogeneration
o Cooling and Heating
o Delayed Coker / Diluent Recovery Unit
o Gas Treating and Sulphur Recovery
o West Tank Farm (inter plant)
o Sulphur Block Pipelines
o Synthetic Crude Oil Pipeline
Q3 2008
o Ore Preparation Plant
o Extraction
o Froth Treatment
o Pipeline Corridors
o Hydrogen Plant
o Hydrotreater
o East Tank Farm (product)
A picture gallery providing visual updates on construction progress is
available on the Company's website
(HTTP://WWW.CNRL.COM/HORIZON/ABOUT_HORIZON/PHOTO_GALLERY.HTML).
CONFERENCE CALL
A conference call will be held at 7:30 a.m. Mountain Time, 9:30 a.m. Eastern
Time on Tuesday, February 12, 2008. The North American conference call number
is 1-866-540-8136 and the outside North American conference call number is
001-416-340-8010. Please call in about 10 minutes before the starting time in
order to be patched into the call. The conference call will also be broadcast
live on the internet and may be accessed through the Canadian Natural website
at WWW.CNRL.COM.
A taped rebroadcast will be available until 6:00 p.m. Mountain Time, Tuesday,
February 19, 2008. To access the postview in North America, dial
1-800-408-3053. Those outside of North America, dial 001-416-695-5800. The
passcode to use is 3252546.
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WEBCAST
This call is being webcast by Vcall and can be accessed on Canadian Natural's
website at WWW.CNRL.COM/INVESTOR_INFO/CALENDAR.HTML.
The webcast is also being distributed over PrecisionIR's Investor Distribution
Network to both institutional and individual investors. Investors can listen to
the call through www.vcall.com or by visiting any of the investor sites in
PrecisionIR's Individual Investor Network.
2007 FOURTH QUARTER RESULTS
The Company's results for the fourth quarter of 2007 will be released on
February 28, 2008. A conference call will be held on that day at 9:00 a.m.
Mountain Time, 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
Canadian Natural is a senior oil and natural gas production company, with
continuing operations in its core areas located in Western Canada, the U.K.
portion of the North Sea and Offshore West Africa.
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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this document or documents incorporated herein by
reference for Canadian Natural Resources Limited (the "Company") constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can
generally be identified as such because of the context of the statements
including words such as the Company "believes", "anticipates", "expects",
"plans", "estimates", "targets", or words of a similar nature.
The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are
subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or
industry results, to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Such factors include, among others: general economic and business
conditions which will, among other things, impact demand for and market prices
of the Company's products; foreign currency exchange rates; economic conditions
in the countries and regions in which the Company conducts business; political
uncertainty, including actions of or against terrorists, insurgent groups or
other conflict including conflict between states; industry capacity; ability of
the Company to implement its business strategy, including exploration and
development activities; impact of competition; availability and cost of
seismic, drilling and other equipment; ability of the Company to complete its
capital programs; ability of the Company to transport its products to market;
potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development
projects or capital expenditures; ability of the Company to attract the
necessary labour required to build its projects; operating hazards and other
difficulties inherent in the exploration for and production and sale of crude
oil and natural gas; availability and cost of financing; success of exploration
and development activities; timing and success of integrating the business and
operations of acquired companies; production levels; uncertainty of reserve
estimates; actions by governmental authorities; government regulations and the
expenditures required to comply with them (especially safety and environmental
laws and regulations); asset retirement obligations; and other circumstances
affecting revenues and expenses. Our domestic operations are subject to
governmental risks that may impact our operations. Our domestic operations have
been, and at times in the future may be affected by political developments and
by federal, provincial and local laws and regulations such as restrictions on
production, changes in taxes, royalties and other amounts payable to
governments or governmental agencies, price or gathering rate controls and
environmental protection regulations. The impact of any one factor on a
particular forward-looking statement is not determinable with certainty as such
factors are interdependent upon other factors, and the Company's course of
action would depend upon its assessment of the future considering all
information then available.
Statements relating to "reserves" are deemed to be forward-looking statements
as they involve the implied assessment based on certain estimates and
assumptions that the reserves described can be profitably produced in the
future.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of important factors is not
exhaustive. Although the Company believes that the expectations conveyed by the
forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information available to it
on the date such forward-looking statements are made, no assurances can be
given as to future results, levels of activity and achievements. All subsequent
forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to the
Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their
entirety by these cautionary statements. Except as required by law, the Company
assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances
or Management's estimates or opinions change.
For further information, please contact:
CANADIAN NATURAL RESOURCES LIMITED
2500, 855 - 2nd Street S.W.
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 4J8
TELEPHONE: (403) 514-7777 ALLAN P. MARKIN
FACSIMILE: (403) 514-7888 Chairman
EMAIL: IR@CNRL.COM
WEBSITE: WWW.CNRL.COM JOHN G. LANGILLE
Vice-Chairman
TRADING SYMBOL - CNQ STEVE W. LAUT
Toronto Stock Exchange President &
New York Stock Exchange Chief Operating Officer
DOUGLAS A. PROLL
Chief Financial Officer &
Senior Vice-President, Finance
COREY B. BIEBER
Vice-President,
Finance & Investor Relations