Imperial Oil Files Reserves Data on SEDAR Website

CALGARY, Feb. 26 /CNW/ - Imperial Oil Limited announced today that it has filed updated reserves data with the Canadian securities administrators on their SEDAR web site. The data is documented in two reports -- the report of the internal qualified reserves evaluator, who is the company's operations technical subsurface engineering manager, and the report of management and directors on reserves data and other information as required under the Canadian securities administrators' National Instrument 51-101 for disclosure of oil and gas activities and its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009.

The Form 10-K contains information about the company, including information on its oil and gas activities, and is filed each year with Canadian and United States securities commissions and administrators. The Form 10-K is prepared in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

The two reports and the company's Form 10-K can be found for viewing by electronic means by accessing the SEDAR web site. The company's disclosure of its oil and gas activities in the Form 10-K is in lieu of and differs from the disclosure for oil and gas activities in the Canadian securities administrators' National Instrument 51-101 due to an exemption granted to the company by the Canadian securities administrators. The differences are primarily with respect to no disclosure in the Form 10-K of probable reserves and reserves data using forecast prices and costs. Also, no independent qualified reserves evaluator or auditor was involved in the preparation of the reserves data contained in the Form 10-K due to the exemption granted by the Canadian securities administrators. The use of independent reserves evaluators is not required by the SEC.

The company believes that the reliability of its internally generated reserves data is of equal or better quality than would be afforded by it involving independent qualified reserves evaluators or independent qualified reserves auditors to evaluate and audit the reserves data. This is due to the experience of and intimate knowledge of the company's oil and gas assets by the company's internal reserves evaluation personnel.

The company believes that its internal reserves evaluation personnel meet the requirements of a qualified reserves evaluator or auditor, as set out in National Instrument 51-101, and that the company has appropriate procedures relating to the preparation of reserves data for reliable public disclosure of such information.

The company's procedures, records and controls relating to the accumulation of source data and preparation of reserves data by its internal reserves evaluation staff have been established, refined, documented, and subjected to regularly scheduled internal audits to test for compliance with established procedures.

The operations technical subsurface engineering manager, as the company's qualified reserves evaluator, is responsible to ensure that an annual review of the company's procedures for assembling and reporting reserves data is conducted with management. This annual review is made with the chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer, and the senior vice-president finance and administration and treasurer.

In addition, the operations technical subsurface engineering manager also meets with the board of directors, as well as in private with the non-employee members of the board to review the company's reserves data. The board of directors approves the content and filing of the reserves data and other oil and gas information disclosed in the Form 10-K.

As well, the board of directors reviews at least annually the company's procedures relating to the disclosure of information with respect to oil and gas activities, the appointment of the internal qualified reserves evaluator and the company's procedures for providing information to its qualified reserves evaluator. The board also meets with management and the qualified reserves evaluator to determine whether any restrictions affect the ability of its qualified reserves evaluator to report on reserves data without reservation and reviews the reserves data and the report of the qualified reserves evaluator on the reserves.

For further information: Investor relations: Mark Stumpf, [phone]; Media relations: Gordon Wong, [phone]