The Fort Hills Energy L. P. reached an agreement with the government of Alberta, Canada to extend the term of the Fort Hills oil sands leases until 2019. The mine is located 90 kilometers north of Fort McMurray, Alberta.

"Fort Hills is truly a made-in-Alberta project that we have been working hard to deliver - but the current economic climate has slowed us down," says Neil Camarta, Petro-Canada's senior vice-president of Oil Sands. "We are very pleased that the province of Alberta has agreed to a compromise that gives us the additional time to make this project a reality."

In November 2008, the Fort Hills officials announced the deferral of the final investment decision on the mining portion of the project until a cost estimate consistent with the current market environment can be established. The Sturgeon Upgrader portion of the project was put on hold and a decision on whether to proceed with the Upgrader will be made at a later date.

The Fort Hills partnership consists of Petro-Canada with a 60% interest, UTS Energy Corporation with a 20% working interest and Teck Cominco Limited with a 20% interest. Petro-Canada Oil Sands Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Petro-Canada, is the project's contract operator.

UTS Energy Corporation is focused on growing and developing oil sands assets. The company was instrumental in re-establishing the Fort Hills Oil Sands Project and is the principal founder of the Fort Hills Energy Partnership.