CALGARY, March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Acclaim Energy Trust announced
on March 3, 2004, that it made information available on the Trust's website
regarding the U.S. tax treatment of distributions for 2003. In addition to the
information that was provided, Acclaim would like to notify unitholders that
it is currently in the process of computing the portion of its distribution
that is considered a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes, if any.
The Trust has engaged the services of a qualified cross-border tax advisor to
compute earnings and profits in accordance with U.S. income tax laws.
    On Acclaim's website, the following information was provided:

    "U.S. tax rules state that no portion of the distribution will be
considered a tax-deferred return of capital unless the trust computes its
current and accumulated earnings and profits in accordance with income tax
principles." Acclaim also stated in this document, "Because a current and
accumulated earnings and profits calculation has not been performed by
Acclaim, the distributions are considered a fully-taxable dividend to U.S.
resident unitholders." This information is being revised and will be
re-posted.

    While these statements contained on the website are correct in the
absence of an earnings and profits study, Acclaim anticipates being able to
provide its U.S. unitholders with the information necessary to claim a return
of capital on the appropriate portion of the distributions. This analysis is
expected no later than June 1, 2004.
    Acclaim is not required to issue Form 1099 DIV's, however, prior to the
release of Acclaim's 2003 U.S. Tax Treatment, U.S. unitholders may receive a
Form 1099 DIV, from a broker or intermediary that may not be correct. At the
earliest time that it can be released, Acclaim will issue a news release
indicating its revised guidance as to the expected U.S. Tax Treatment. Brokers
and/or intermediaries may then issue an amended Form 1099 DIV. Investors
should consult their brokers and tax advisors to ensure that the information
that will be provided by Acclaim is accurately reflected on their tax returns.
    The above information is not exhaustive of all possible U.S. income tax
considerations, and should not be considered legal or tax advice to any
unitholder. We strongly encourage each unitholder to obtain independent advice
regarding the income tax consequences of holding units in Acclaim Energy
Trust.

    Acclaim Energy Trust is an open-end, actively managed Canadian energy
trust, engaged in the development and acquisition of long-life, high-quality
oil and natural gas reserves in western Canada. With an enterprise value
exceeding $1 billion, production is weighted 52 percent to natural gas, and
48 percent to oil and natural gas liquids. Since inception, the Trust's
monthly distributions have been classified as 100 percent return of capital,
which is expected to be maintained throughout 2004. Acclaim has a history of
making accretive acquisitions on a per unit basis and in providing stable,
consistent monthly distributions to its unitholders. For further information
on Acclaim Energy Trust, please visit http://www.acclaimtrust.com.

    This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements, which
are based on Acclaim's current internal expectations, estimates, projections,
assumptions and beliefs, which may prove to be incorrect. Some of the
forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects",
"anticipates", "believes", "projects", "plans" and similar expressions. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should
not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve
known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause Acclaim's actual
performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from
any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other
things, changes in general economic, market and business conditions; changes
or fluctuations in production levels, commodity prices, currency exchange
rates, capital expenditures, reserves or reserves estimates and debt service
requirements; changes to legislation, investment eligibility or investment
criteria; Acclaim's ability to comply with current and future environmental or
other laws; Acclaim' success at acquisition, exploitation and development of
reserves; actions by governmental or regulatory authorities including
increasing taxes, changes in investment or other regulations; and the
occurrence of unexpected events involved in the operation and development of
oil and gas properties. Acclaim disclaims any responsibility to update these
forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties are
described in Acclaim' 2002 Annual Information Form, Acclaim' Management's
Discussion and Analysis and other documents Acclaim files with the Canadian
securities authorities. Copies of these documents are available without charge
from Acclaim or may be accessed on Acclaims website (http://www.acclaimtrust.com) or
on the website maintained by the Canadian securities regulatory authorities
(http://www.sedar.com).

Link to this page: