Penn West Energy Trust released updated information on its corporate restructuring and an operational update on its oil and gas exploration and development activities.

Penn West Energy Trust is currently operating under an income trust business model and is moving over the next few quarters to an exploration and production business model. This conversion involves the reduction of its dividend and the redeployment of the funds into oil and gas exploration and development.

Penn West Energy Trust has reduced the company’s future monthly dividend payments from $0.15 per unit to $0.09 per unit. The company has also applied to the appropriate legal and regulatory authorities for permission to convert to a corporate form of organization. Penn West Energy Trust expects this to be completed by the beginning of 2011.

Penn West Energy Trust reported that the company has a large inventory of light oil exploration and development activities at its properties in Canada. The company has 650,000 net acres under lease in Alberta where it is developing the Cardium formation. Two recent wells drilled by Penn West Energy Trust in the Cardium play each produced more than 2,000 barrels of oil per day during the initial production period.

For more information on the company, go to www.pennwest.com

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