London, United Kingdom; Calgary, Canada: 11 March, 2024 - Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited ("COPL" or the "Company") (XOP: CSE) & (COPL: LSE)  announced that, after extensive consideration and review of the Company's current financial situation, COPL and its subsidiaries (collectively, the "COPL Group ") have applied for an initial order (the "Initial Order") from the Alberta Court of King's Bench (the "Court") pursuant to the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA").

The Initial Order would provide for, among other things, a stay of proceedings in favour of the COPL Group, approval of debtor-in-possession financing ("DIP Financing") and the appointment of KSV Restructuring Inc. to serve as monitor of the COPL Group (in such capacity, the "Monitor").

In light of the application for the Initial Order, the Company has requested a suspension of trading in the Company's common shares on both the London Stock Exchange and the Canadian Securities Exchange with immediate effect.

The COPL Group will continue its day-to-day operations as usual and intends to continue paying its critical suppliers in the ordinary course during the CCAA proceedings. The forbearance agreement with the Company's senior lenders has now expired.

The Company believes there is little prospect for a return to shareholders or bond holders.

Additional Information

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP and Potter Anderson LLP are serving as restructuring counsel to the Company in Canada and the U.S., respectively, and McCarthy Tétrault LLP is serving as securities counsel to the Company. As previously announced, Peter Kravitz of Province Fiduciary Services is serving as COPL's Chief Restructuring Officer.

About the Company:

COPL is an international oil and gas exploration, development and production company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta.

For further information, please contact:

Peter Kravitz, Chief Restructuring Officer & Interim Chief Executive Officer

Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited 

Tel: + 1 (403) 262 5441

The Common Shares are listed under the symbol "XOP" on the CSE and under the symbol "COPL" on the London Stock Exchange.

Caution regarding forward looking statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "initial, "scheduled", "can", "will", "prior to", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "should", "forecast", "future", "continue", "may", "expect", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company, including, but not limited to, the ability to raise the necessary funding for operations, delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements since the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties most of which are beyond the control of Canadian Overseas Petroleum Ltd. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and Canadian Overseas Petroleum undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

This announcement has been issued by and is the sole responsibility of the Company. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by the Company (apart from the responsibilities or liabilities that may be imposed by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, or the regulatory regime established thereunder) or by any of its affiliates or agents as to, or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.