Alberta Oilsands Inc. announces changes to Board of Directors

CALGARY, April 27 /CNW/ - Alberta Oilsands Inc. (the "Company" or "AOS") (TSXV:AOS) announced today that Mr. Leonard A. Cornez and Mr. Howard E. MacKichan have resigned from the Board of Directors of AOS, effective immediately. In connection with these resignations, Mr. John (Jack) R. Crawford, Mr. Bill Matheson and Mr. Leonard Sokolow have been appointed to the Board of Directors, subject to required regulatory approvals.

"Len and Howard have been excellent Board members for Alberta Oilsands, and we greatly appreciate the time and effort they have put into their roles as Board members over the past few years," said Mr. Shabir Premji, Executive Chairman of AOS. "On behalf of Alberta Oilsand's Board of Directors, I wish them all the best in their future endeavors."

Brief biographies of the new members of the Board of Directors of AOS are as follows:

    
    Mr. Jack Crawford:
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Mr. Crawford, a professional engineer with over 35 years of experience in the energy industry, is President of J.R. Crawford & Associates (a private consulting company). He has held a number of positions at the senior executive level, with the most recent being President and CEO of Altex Energy Ltd. (a private energy infrastructure company) from 2005 to 2009. Prior to that Mr. Crawford was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Alliance Pipeline Ltd. (the general partner of Alliance Pipeline Limited Partnership, a natural gas pipeline utility) where he worked from 1996 to 2004. Mr. Crawford holds Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of Calgary. Mr. Crawford has served on various charitable and industry association boards including the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, the Van Horne Institute and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra Society, where he held the chair in 2006 and 2007.

    
    Mr. Bill Matheson:
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Mr. Matheson has over 20 years of experience in the energy industry covering a broad range of the downstream and upstream sectors. Most recently, Mr. Matheson was Chairman and CEO of a publicly traded junior exploration company.

Mr. Matheson has acted as advisor to the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission and The Alberta Stock Exchange. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary and holds the ICD.D certification as granted by the Institute of Corporate Directors, the professional body representing the Director community in Canada.

    
    Mr. Leonard Sokolow:
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Mr. Sokolow is President and Vice Chairman of National Holdings Corporation which is traded over the counter (OTC BB: NHLD) and is a holding company engaged in the financial services business which has a strategic focus on servicing the needs of high net-worth and institutional investors and high growth companies. Through its principal operating subsidiaries National Securities Corporation and vFinance Investments, Inc., both licensed broker-dealers, it provides investment banking, retail and institutional brokerage services in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Latin America, Canada and Europe.

Mr. Sokolow has been President of Genesis Partners, Inc., a private financial business-consulting firm. From 1994 to 1998, Mr. Sokolow was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Americas Growth Fund, Inc., a public closed-end management investment company. He is also a director of Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: CWCO) and Chairman of its audit and nominations committees, positions he has held since 2006 and 2009 respectively.

Mr. Sokolow received his B.A. degree in Economics from the University of Florida in 1977, a J.D. degree from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law in 1980 and an LL.M. degree in Taxation from the New York University Graduate School of Law in 1982. Mr. Sokolow is also a Certified Public Accountant.

About Alberta Oilsands Inc.

Alberta Oilsands Inc. is a technically driven high growth energy company focused on the development and conversion of the Company's oil sands resources to reserves and the creation of long term sustainable value by increasing production and cash flow on relevant conventional oil and natural gas assets.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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For further information: Alberta Oilsands Inc., Suite 2800, 350 - 7th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, T2P 3N9, Shabir Premji, Executive Chairman, T: [phone], F: [phone], [email protected]; or Chad Dust, Executive Vice President Finance and Business Development, T: [phone], F: [phone], [email protected]; Company website: www.aboilsands.ca