Crew Energy Announces Alliance Pipeline Force Majeure Causes Temporary Suspension of Montney Production

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - June 13, 2017) - Crew Energy Inc. (TSX:CR) ("Crew" or the "Company") has been informed by the Alliance Pipeline Limited Partnership ("Alliance") that it has detected slope movement in the vicinity of its pipeline system near the Wapiti River, approximately 25 km southwest of Grande Prairie. Alliance plans to expose the affected section of pipe in order to conduct the necessary inspections subject to regulatory requirements. To accommodate this work, Alliance will be required to reduce system operating pressure at this location for the duration of the work, which in turn will cause a reduction in firm transportation service capability and zero flow restrictions at certain receipt points including Crew's BC58 Septimus delivery point.

This suspension will result in all of Crew's Montney production being shut-in until the situation is resolved, representing approximately 90 mmcf per day of natural gas and associated liquids or approximately 18,000 boe per day. The work is expected to commence today, June 13, 2017, and is currently anticipated to last for a period of three to five days. Crew's ability to mitigate this outage by delivering additional volumes to the Enbridge (Spectra) T-North Fort Saint John mainline is not available due to planned maintenance on that pipeline which overlaps with the Alliance outage.

As a result of this unplanned outage, the Company's previously announced second quarter 2017 production guidance of 20,000 to 21,000 boe per day will be impacted by an average of 200 boe per day for each day Crew's Alliance service is unavailable. Based on Alliance's expectation of a three to five day outage, second quarter production is expected to be impacted by approximately 600 to 1,000 boe per day. The Company currently has three drilling rigs at work in northeast B.C., an inventory of 19 drilled and uncompleted wells and one frac spread at work with a second expected at West Septimus this week, allowing the Company to maintain our full year guidance of 24,000 to 26,000 boe per day.

This event further highlights the importance of maintaining multiple egress options for Western Canadian natural gas production and the strategic advantage of Crew's land base, which is proximal to all three major pipeline export systems out of Western Canada. In order to take advantage of this strength, Crew is proceeding with the tie-in of its expanded 120 mmcf per day West Septimus gas processing facility into the TransCanada Pipeline system with work on the tie-in expected to commence in the fall of 2017 and conclude by April of 2018. 

Crew Energy Inc. is a dynamic, growth-oriented exploration and production company, focused on increasing long-term production, reserves and cash flow per share through the development of our world-class Montney resource. Crew is based in Calgary, Alberta and our shares are traded on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "CR".

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends", "forecast" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, this news release contains forward-looking information and statements pertaining to Alliance's plans to conduct pipeline work, the timing and duration thereof, the anticipated suspension of Crew's Montney production in the area and duration thereof, production forecasts for the second quarter and the year 2017 and Crew's plans to tie in its West Septimus facility into TransCanada and timing thereof. 

The forward-looking information and statements included in this press release are not guarantees of future performance and should not be unduly relied upon. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release, and Crew does not assume any obligation to publicly update or revise any of the included forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

BOE equivalent

Barrel of oil equivalents or BOEs may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A BOE conversion ratio of 6 mcf: 1 bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. Given that the value ratio based on the current price of crude oil as compared to natural gas is significantly different than the energy equivalency of 6:1, utilizing a 6:1 conversion basis may be misleading as an indication of value.