Press Release - November 28, 2006

Industry Group Meets with Premier Handley to Discuss Deep Water Port in Tuktoyaktuk

Hallmark Tubulars Ltd. and Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) met with the Honourable Joe Handley, Premier of the Northwest Territories, and Mr. Kevin Menicoche, Minister for Transportation for the Northwest Territories on November 1, 2006. The meeting was held to discuss the feasibility of developing a deep water port at Tuktoyaktuk, NWT, on the coast of the Beaufort Sea in the Western Arctic.

�Establishing a deep water port could have short and long-term economic benefits to the community of Tuktoyaktuk including new business opportunities and further development in the Northwest Territories as a whole,� said Brian Crookes, President of Hallmark Tubulars Ltd. �In the short term, a deep water port at Tuktoyaktuk could prove to be very beneficial to Mackenzie Gas Project-related development. Over the long term, Tuktoyaktuk could become a major port serving the entire Western Arctic, including the Kitikmeot region, Alaska and the mega heavy oil projects ongoing in North Eastern Alberta.�

�NTCL has long used the port of Tuktoyaktuk as a terminal and transhipment port for our Beaufort Sea and Kitikmeot shipping operations,� said David Foster, President of NTCL. �Tuktoyaktuk is eminently placed to be both a terminus as well as an interface both for any future increase in commercial marine transportation along the Arctic coast and for the proposed Mackenzie Valley Highway. A deep water port would also provide a sovereign Canadian presence for the Western Arctic and approaches to the Northwest Passage.�

�The establishment of a deep water port at Tuktoyaktuk makes a great deal of sense when considering the economic development of the community and the region�, said Premier Handley. The Premier also added he is prepared to take up the issue with local governments as well as the federal government.

For more information, please contact:

Brian Crookes, President

Hallmark Tubulars Ltd.

Tel: (403) 266.3807

David Foster,President

Northern TransportationCompany Limited

Tel: (867) 874.5150

Hallmark Tubulars began over 25 years ago as a supplier of premium OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods) and Line Pipe products offering tubular procurement, management and inventory services to the oil & gas industry. Hallmark Integrated Tubular Solutions (HITS) employs a powerful, proprietary model that incorporates all aspects of the tubular supply chain, managing the entire process.

Northern Transportation Company Limited, Canada�s oldest and largest northern tug and barge company, has been serving Northern communities for more than 70 years. Since 1985, the company has been owned by NorTerra Inc. which itself is owned equally by Nunasi Corporation of Nunavut and the Inuvialuit Development Corporation in the Northwest Territories.