NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

CALGARY, July 3 /CNW/ - (TSX -- COS.UN) - Canadian Oil Sands Trust (the "Trust" or "Canadian Oil Sands") today announced it has successfully completed its previously announced equity financing, raising gross proceeds of Cdn $228,475,000.

On June 11, 2003, the Trust announced it had entered into an agreement to sell, to a syndicate of underwriters, 4,300,000 Trust Units at $35.15 each to raise gross proceeds of $151,145,000 on a bought deal basis. The Trust had also granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 1,200,000 Trust Units on the same offering terms, which was exercised in whole. The underwriting syndicate was co-led by CIBC World Markets Inc. and Merrill Lynch Canada Inc. and included RBC Dominion Securities Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., Scotia Capital Inc., HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc., National Bank Financial Inc., TD Securities Inc., Canacccord Capital Corp., FirstEnergy Capital Corp., Peters & Co. Limited and Raymond James Ltd.

Another 1,000,000 Trust Units were sold on a private placement basis at the same issue price to raise gross proceeds of $35,150,000.

The Trust intends to use the proceeds from these equity offerings to finance a portion of its purchase of an additional 3.75 per cent interest in Syncrude from EnCana Corporation ("EnCana"). The closing of this acquisition is expected to occur on or about July 10, 2003.

"The successful equity financing of our acquisition of the additional Syncrude interest from EnCana has enabled us to maintain our strong financial position," said Marcel Coutu, Canadian Oil Sands' President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are now focused on prudently managing our balance sheet to guide us through the capital intensive period of the next two years, and into the next phase of broader operations following the Stage 3 expansion when we expect a 50 per cent increase in production."

Canadian Oil Sands Trust is an open-ended investment trust that generates income from its current 31.74 per cent indirect working interest in the Syncrude Joint Venture. The Trust's approximately 86.3 million units outstanding trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol COS.UN. The Trust is managed by Canadian Oil Sands Limited.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, Trust Units in the United States, or any province or territory of Canada, nor shall there be any sale of the Trust Units in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The Trust Units offered will not be, and have not been, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or applicable exemption from the registration requirement.

Advisory: in the interest of providing Canadian Oil Sands or the Trust's unitholders and potential investors with information regarding the Trust, including management's assessment of the Trust's future plans and operations, certain statements throughout this release contain "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the anticipated closing date for the acquisition of the 3.75 per cent interest in Syncrude and the expected increase in production following the completion of the Stage 3 expansion. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. Readers should read the forward-looking advisory in the Trust's annual information form and annual report for more details. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Canadian Oil Sands Limited
Marcel Coutu
President & Chief Executive Officer
Units Listed-Symbol: COS.UN
Toronto Stock Exchange

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For further information: Siren Fisekci, Manager, Investor Relations:(403) 218-6228, investor_relations@cos-trust.com, Web site: www.cos-trust.com; To request a free copy of this organization's annual report, please go to http://www.newswire.ca and click on reports@cnw.