View an Alternative Method of Assessing Market Valuation of Seven Canadian Oil Sands Companies (COS.UN, DCE, OPC, SU, SYN, UTS, WTO).

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c44162) has announced the addition of "Oil Sands Market Valuation Over the Development Cycle" to their offering.

Why you should read this report:

- Since July 29, 2004, share prices of six of the seven companies appreciated between 105% to 576% (as at January 4, 2006), far exceeding the TSE Composite Index and the WTI price over the same period. (The seventh company, SYN, went public on November 15, 2005).

- In our opinion, the factors responsible for this stock-price appreciation include the commodity price outlook, greater global interest in the oil sands, corporate and property acquisitions, and a recent surge of capital investment into the northern Alberta region. The capital influx is forecast by the industry to bring production capacity to 2.7 MMb/d in 2015 from 1 MMb/d presently.

- We believe the run-up suggests the market is accepting more risk by investing in these companies at increasingly earlier stages of their projects. Ironically, as more oil sands projects are proposed, the risk is being elevated by labor shortages, capital cost inflation and tightening regulatory requirements.

- The run-up also suggests the market is not evaluating oil sands companies relative to net asset value (NAV). This is understandable, since these are unique, long-life mega projects built out in multiple stages, and long-term NAV models are extremely sensitive to discount rate and commodity price assumptions.

We present an alternative method of assessing market valuation for seven Canadian oil sands companies (COS.UN, DCE, OPC, SU, SYN, UTS, WTO) on the basis of enterprise value per estimated recoverable barrel of bitumen. We believe this metric provides a more meaningful comparison for oil sands companies than NAV; however, we caution that while this methodology may provide useful a valuation comparison, we do not recommend it as the only criterion for making investment decisions since factors influence reserve value, project timing, future commodity prices, project-specific risks, and capital and operating costs. All seven companies are heavily weighted to the Athabasca oil sands of northern Alberta, and their projects are at various stages of development. In the 17 months prior to publish date, share prices of these companies have increased dramatically, excepting the recently listed Synenco.

Companies Mentioned Include:

- Canadian Oil Sands Trust 

- Deer Creek Energy (now Total E&P Canada)

- OPTI Canada Inc

- Suncor

- Synenco Energy Inc

- UTS Energy Corp

- Western Oil Sands 

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c44162