Calgary, February 2, 2005 (TSX – COS.UN) —Canadian Oil Sands Trust (the “Trust” or “Canadian Oil Sands”) advises that on January 30, there was an unsuccessful start-up of a hydrogen plant at the Syncrude oil sands facility, due to the failure of several tubes in the unit’s reformer furnace. As a result, Hydrogen Plant 9-3, which had been in a maintenance turnaround, remains off-line for an undetermined period of time. The other two hydrogen plants at Syncrude continue to operate under normal conditions. Syncrude continues to investigate the cause of this incident, however the extent of the damage and the impact on annual production and operating costs are not known at this time.

After assessing the situation it has been determined that to optimize production, the best course of action would be to advance the turnaround of Coker 8-2 and associated upgrading units to early February. Previously, this maintenance work was planned to commence in early April. The first day of the Coker turnaround is now scheduled for February 12. Other scheduled maintenance in this turnaround will also be advanced, including work on diluent recovery units and the UE-1 revamps of two hydrotreaters, as well as the associated environmental units.

As a result of the revised timing of this scheduled maintenance, first quarter production will be impacted. Canadian Oil Sands now forecasts Syncrude’s first quarter production at 15 million barrels, compared to the previously announced 20 million barrels. Based on current information, the Trust’s 2005 production outlook remains unchanged at 80 to 86 million barrels for Syncrude, with approximately 4 million barrels in reduced production due to the Coker 8-2 turnaround being moved from the second quarter to the first quarter. Canadian Oil Sands will provide further details on the extent of the damage to the hydrogen plant once the investigation and assessment are complete.

The Trust provides monthly updates on production volumes and outlook on the Trust’s Web site at www.cos-trust.com under “the Syncrude Asset”, “SSB Production”. We would remind investors and the media to consult the Web site in the future for information of this nature.

Canadian Oil Sands Trust is an open-ended investment trust that generates income from its indirect 35.49 per cent working interest in the Syncrude Joint Venture. The Trust currently has approximately 91.4 million units outstanding, which trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol COS.UN. The Trust is managed by Canadian Oil Sands Limited.

Advisory: in the interest of providing Canadian Oil Sands Trust (“Canadian Oil Sands” or the “Trust”) 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” under applicable securities law.  Forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the expected production and operating costs for the first quarter and the full year of 2005, and the expected timing of commencing maintenance work at Syncrude. 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.  Although the Trust believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.  Some of the risks and other factors which could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements contained in this release include, but are not limited to: labour productivity; availability of workforce and materials; commodity prices; and such other risks and uncertainties described from time to time in the reports and filings made with securities regulatory authorities by the Trust. You are cautioned that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive.  Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this release are made as of the date of this release, and the Trust does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.  The forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

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Canadian Oil Sands Limited
Allen Hagerman
Chief Financial Officer

Units Listed – Symbol: COS.UN
Toronto Stock Exchange
 For further information:

Randy Provencal
Advisor, Investor Relations
(403) 218-6228
investor_relations@cos-trust.com

Web site: www.cos-trust.com