OQI has hired Allison Aherne as its new chief reservoir engineer. In Ms. Aherne's most recent roles, she led reservoir engineering and field operations for Suncor's Firebag SAGD project. In previous positions with Devon Canada, she also created a field reservoir development plan for the Jackfish SAGD project, and worked on the Dover and Surmont fields as well. Ms. Aherne has a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering with a specialty in petroleum from the University of Calgary. She has over 10 years of directly relevant in situ oil sands reservoir and operations experience that she will apply to OQI's reservoirs at Axe Lake, Raven Ridge, Wallace Creek and Eagle Nest.

As well as Ms. Aherne, who joined the Company on March 8, 2010, OQI has also recently added additional technical staff in geophysics, geology and reservoir engineering. The recruiting process for a senior operating executive is ongoing, as the Company continues to build the technical and operating experience to move toward commercial development.