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Strategies & Market Trends : YEEHAW CANDIDATES -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ken W who wrote (17681)	4/27/2006 8:23:50 AM
From: Galirayo	Respond to of 23958

[IVAN] Preparations under way for upcoming test runs at Ivanhoe Energy's heavy oil upgrading facility in California Thursday April 27, 8:18 am ET Canadian Athabasca bitumen on-site for testing BAKERSFIELD, CA, April 27 /CNW/ - Preparations are well under way in advance of key upcoming test runs at Ivanhoe Energy Inc.'s (NASDAQ: IVAN and TSX: IE) heavy oil upgrading Commercial Demonstration Facility (CDF) in California. biz.yahoo.com Ivanhoe Energy's CDF is being prepared for a series of test runs that will demonstrate the processing of Athabasca bitumen and vacuum tower bottoms (VTB's) in a "High Quality" configuration. This configuration, appropriate for numerous resource opportunities around the world, including the Athabasca oil sands in Western Canada, produces a more fully upgraded product, as well as maximum amounts of by-product energy. In order to carry out these runs, a number of upgrades and enhancements to the CDF were required. These upgrades were primarily related to peripheral equipment linked to the handling of raw feed and the processed product, as well as equipment redundancy and back-up for more extended runs. These upgrades were originally expected to take 4-6 weeks. As a result of the extremely tight markets in the industry for oilfield personnel and equipment and additional minor improvements that extended the original timeline, we have experienced some delay. Ivanhoe Energy currently anticipates commencing the next set of runs at the end of May. Athabasca bitumen has been shipped from Western Canada and is currently at the CDF in onsite storage ready for processing. The data from upcoming runs will allow Ivanhoe Energy to initiate the site-specific design and engineering for full commercial 10,000 to 15,000 barrel-per-day plants. Ivanhoe Energy's heavy oil upgrading technology produces lighter, more valuable crude oil at lower costs and in smaller-sized plants than conventional technologies. The technology addresses the four key challenges to heavy oil development: - the facilities can be field-located and effective at a scale as low as 10,000 to 15,000 barrels per day; - the value of the upgraded heavy oil is substantially increased; - the viscosity of the upgraded product is dramatically reduced, allowing it to be transported by pipeline without the need for blend oils; and - significant amounts of by-product energy are produced, as an on-site source for the production of the steam and/or power needed in heavy oil recovery. Ivanhoe Energy is an independent international oil and gas exploration and development company focused on pursuing long-term growth in its reserve base and production using key technologies, including its proprietary heavy oil upgrading process, state-of-the-art drilling and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques and the conversion of natural gas to liquids (GTL). Core operations are in the United States and China, with business development opportunities worldwide. Ivanhoe Energy trades on the NASDAQ Capital Market with the ticker symbol IVAN and on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) with the symbol IE. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This document includes forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the continued advancement of Ivanhoe Energy's projects, the potential for, future application of and commercialization of Ivanhoe Energy's heavy oil upgrading technology and other statements which are not historical facts. When used in this document, the words such as "could," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "potential," "should," and similar expressions relating to matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Although Ivanhoe Energy believes that its expectations reflected in these forward- looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include the potential that the company's projects will experience technological and mechanical problems, Ivanhoe Energy's process to upgrade bitumen and heavy oil may not be commercially viable, environmental risks, changes in product prices, our ability to raise capital as and when required, competition and other risks disclosed in Ivanhoe Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR and the Canadian Securities Commissions on SEDAR. For further information All locations: Cindy Burnett, (604) 331-9830 (North America) In Asia: Patrick Chua, 86-1370-121-2607, 852-9193-4056 Website: www.ivanhoe-energy.com To request a free copy of this organization's annual report, please go to newswire.ca and click on Tools for Investors. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Ivanhoe Energy Inc.