Nexen Announces Webcast and Provides Long Lake Progress Update

Nexen Inc. is pleased to announce that Charlie Fischer, President and CEO, and Gary Nieuwenburg, Senior Vice President, Synthetic Crude will host a webcast with presentation slides on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at 3:30 pm Mountain time (5:30 pm Eastern time) to provide a detailed progress update on the SAGD component of the Long Lake project which is on track and gearing up for first production of premium synthetic crude later this summer.

The Long Lake project is being jointly developed by Nexen Inc. and OPTI Canada Inc. (TSX: OPC).

Links to the audio webcast and presentation slides will be available at www.nexeninc.com . We recommend users access the webcast approximately 10 minutes before the scheduled start time. A webcast archive and audio transcript will be available within 48 hours of the presentations and will be available on our website.

Progress Update

The project is proceeding well with several significant achievements to date. At the end of May, there were 34 well pairs in SAGD production and the producing wells are meeting expectations with oil rates increasing and steam-oil-ratios (SOR) decreasing. At this stage of the ramp-up process, with some of the well pairs on SAGD operation producing bitumen and others still circulating steam, the overall SOR is currently at about 5.0. The 34 well pairs that have been converted to SAGD operation are averaging 10,000 bbls/day of bitumen production at an aggregate SOR of less than 3.5. This is in-line with our long term expectation that our SOR will continue to decrease to approximately 3.0 when peak rates are achieved in 2009. Water treatment capacity is ramping up and the second cogeneration unit is now in operation. This will provide more steam generation capacity allowing us to convert additional wells and further ramp-up production. We continue to expect to have sufficient bitumen feedstock to start-up the upgrader later this summer. SAGD volumes are expected to continue ramping-up through the remainder of 2008 and reach the full design rate of 72,000 bbl/d in 2009.

Excellent progress has been made on upgrader commissioning in the past several months with over 70 percent completed to date. Synthetic crude and pentane have been loaded into the OrCrude(TM) unit and testing in this unit is advancing well. Introduction of first bitumen into the OrCrude(TM) unit is planned for later this month. Catalyst loading is complete in the hydrocracker and the sulphur recovery units with these units moving into the final commissioning steps required before start-up activities commence. In the gasification unit, automation testing activities are progressing with our licensor, Shell Global Solutions.

As previously announced, a holding tank used to balance liquid oxygen flow between the air separation plant and the gasifier was damaged in the commissioning process. After a detailed inspection of the tank, we determined that the roof required replacement. The roof has been removed and construction of a new roof is underway with repairs expected to be complete early in the third quarter. The remainder of the air separation unit is ready for start-up and liquid oxygen has already been successfully produced. Start-up of the upgrader will follow once repairs are completed with first commercial production expected late summer.

Nexen Inc. is an independent, Canadian-based global energy company, listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol NXY. We are uniquely positioned for growth in the North Sea, Western Canada (including the Athabasca oil sands of Alberta and unconventional gas resource plays such as coalbed methane and shale gas), deep-water Gulf of Mexico, offshore West Africa and the Middle East. We add value for shareholders through successful full-cycle oil and gas exploration and development and leadership in ethics, integrity, governance and environmental protection.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this report constitute "forward-looking statements" (within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended) or "forward-looking information" (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation). Such statements or information ("forward-looking statements") are generally identifiable by the terminology used such as "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "plan", "expect", "estimate", "budget", "outlook" or other similar words and include statements relating to or associated with individual wells, regions or projects. Any statements as to possible future crude oil, natural gas or chemicals prices, future production levels, future cost recovery oil revenues from our Yemen operations, future capital expenditures and their allocation to exploration and development activities, future earnings, future asset dispositions, future sources of funding for our capital program, future debt levels, possible commerciality, development plans or capacity expansions, future ability to execute dispositions of assets or businesses, future cash flows and their uses, future drilling of new wells, ultimate recoverability of reserves or resources, expected finding and development costs, expected operating costs, future demand for chemicals products, estimates on a per share basis, sales, future expenditures and future allowances relating to environmental matters and dates by which certain areas will be developed or will come on stream, and changes in any of the foregoing are forward-looking statements. Statements relating to "reserves" or "resources" are forward-looking statements, as they involve the implied assessment, based on estimates and assumptions that the reserves and resources described exist in the quantities predicted or estimated, and can be profitably produced in the future.