Vast Provides Update on the Qara Dagh Exploration Well

   Vast Exploration Inc. ("Vast" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: VST) announces that the Company has concluded operations at the Qara Dagh 01 exploration well. The well has been drilled to a total depth of 4,196 meters, the maximum depth possible with current drilling equipment, ending in the basal section of the Upper Cretaceous Shiranish Formation. Open hole image logs have positioned the well on the North East structural flank of the Qara Dagh anticline, approximately 400 meters east of the anticlinal core.

Oil shows have been encountered over a gross column of roughly 955 meters and open hole drill stem tests were conducted in the Shiranish Formation with cased hole tests completed in the overlying Upper Cretaceous Tanjero Formation. All zones after acid stimulation successfully tested light sweet gravity oil (ranging from 43 to 46API @ 60 degrees F) but at non-commercial flow rates. Reservoir permeability and encountering low fracture densities are the principal causes for poor flow rates.

Testing operations have been completed at the Qara Dagh 01 well. Testing equipment is in the process of being removed and the well will be left in a condition such that the partners have the option to re-enter the well at a future date. Various re-entry scenarios including extending the well's total depth or drilling a deviated side-track well are being considered. Furthermore, the operator is currently scouting potential locations at the north end of the Qara Dagh anticline for a second well expected to spud in 2012. The next well is expected to target the main Kometan and Qamchuga formations in the Cretaceous. The Qara Dagh block contains a large surface anticline with several major prospective horizons.

Sig Slotboom, President and CEO of Vast commented, "The current well has established a substantial oil hydrocarbon column in the upper Cretaceous. All the geological and geophysical data gained in the current well will be integrated to establish the best location on the structure for the next well to attempt to access prolific reservoirs in the lower Cretaceous. Vast and its partners remain committed to the exploration of the Qara Dagh block".

About Vast Exploration

Vast Exploration Inc. is an independent oil and gas company. Vast is focused on the exploration and development of its principal asset, the Qara Dagh Block, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The Qara Dagh Block lies on trend with existing discoveries and is located in the prolific Zagros Fold Belt of Northern Iraq, which contains several large fields including the super-giant Kirkuk field.

Regulatory Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, the prospective nature of the Qara Dagh block, the drilling program and revised timeline for completion, exploration and development plans and projected expenses and timetable, and relationships with other companies who hold an interest in the Qara Dagh block. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. For a description of some of such risks, please see the Company's annual information form filed under the profile of the Company on SEDAR. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Contacts: Vast Exploration Inc. Sig Slotboom President and CEO [phone] [e-mail]