Austral Pacific Increases Interest in Cardiff Gas Field

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Aug. 7  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. (TSX-V: APX; NZSX: APX; Amex: AEN)

Austral Pacific Energy Increase Interest in Cardiff Gas Field

In keeping with its strategies for growth, Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement to acquire all the shares of International Resource Management Corporation Limited ("IRM") (subject to financing arrangements and finalization of due diligence).  IRM is a small, privately held, New Zealand oil and gas exploration and production company whose principal asset is a 19.8% interest in the Cardiff gas field (PMP 38156).

Commenting on this strategic acquisition President and CEO Thom Jewell said, "This transaction will effectively increase the Austral Pacific interest in the Cardiff asset to 44.9%. The Cardiff testing is proceeding and we expect to be in position to make a more detailed announcement regarding progress within the week."

The consideration for IRM's interest will be paid partly in cash, and partly by the issue of shares in the Company, subject to regulatory approvals. The shares are to be issued at a price based on average market price as at the date the agreement becomes unconditional.

Interim Financials Filed

Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. has filed its interim unaudited quarterly financial statements and accompanying Management Discussion & Analysis for the three months ended 30 June 2007.

The full filings are also available on the Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. website (http://www.austral-pacific.com/) or on SEDAR, the Canadian securities commissions' filing system (http://www.sedar.com/).

Austral Pacific Energy is a Canadian registered company with head office in Wellington and listed on the NZSX, the TSX-V and the AMEX.

  Web site: http://www.austral-pacific.com/
  Email:    
  Phone:    Thom Jewell, CEO [phone]



None of the Exchanges upon which Austral Pacific's securities trade have approved or disapproved the contents hereof. This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable legislation. Other than statements of historical fact, all statements in this release addressing future production, reserve potential, exploration and development activities and other contingencies are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, due to factors such as market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market, political or business conditions. See our public filings at http://www.sedar.com/ and http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm for further information. 

DATASOURCE: Austral Pacific Energy Ltd.



CONTACT:  Thom Jewell, CEO of Austral Pacific Energy Ltd.,

[phone]



Web site:  http://www.austral-pacific.com/ 

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