Austral Pacific Announces Farmout of PEP 38524

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, June 3  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. (TSX-V: APX; NZSX: APX; Amex: AEN) -- Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. announces that it has farmed down an 80 percent interest in PEP 38524, offshore Tasman Bay, to Australian Worldwide Exploration Limited (ASX:AWE). In return AWE has undertaken to fully fund acquisition of some 350km of 2D seismic within the permit.  The farmout is subject to approval of a revised work programme by the Ministry of Economic Development.

On commenting on the farmout, Chief Executive Thom Jewell said "Austral Pacific is very pleased to have such an experienced explorer and developer of oil and gas resources enter into and contribute to the ongoing exploration of the permit."

"AWE has taken on operatorship of the permit and will conduct seismic acquisition as well as any drilling that may be undertaken on behalf of the joint venture," said Mr Jewell.

PEP 38524 covers some 2,187 sq km and is situated west of D'Urville Island.  The area is interpreted to form an extension of the South Taranaki Basin, which includes the Kupe South and Maari oil and gas fields.

Mr Jewell noted that Austral Pacific is still very much at the exploration phase with the permit and that developing the D'Urville permit is in keeping with its strategic plan of having a diverse portfolio of producing assets and material exploration plays.

   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., +64 (4) 495

0880



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

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