Vintage Petroleum Reports First Quarter Operational Results and Updates Plans for 2005

Vintage Petroleum, Inc. (NYSE:VPI) announced today the
results and status of its first quarter operational activities and
plans for 2005. In the first three months of 2005, the company made
capital expenditures totaling $64.3 million, with $54.3 million going
to a variety of lower-risk exploitation projects and $10 million spent
on potentially higher-impact exploration programs in the United States
and Yemen.

   United States - Exploitation

   For 2005, a capital budget of $40 million was allocated to U.S.
exploitation activities encompassing 20 net exploitation wells to be
drilled and approximately 45 well workovers, principally in
California, Louisiana and Texas. Activity in the first quarter of 2005
included the continuation of an infill drilling program at the South
Gilmer field of East Texas, where three wells were completed in the
first quarter and four are currently targeted for completion by the
end of June. Three wells are also planned in the field for the third
quarter. Expanded drilling programs and workover activity in the
Luling, Darst Creek and West Ranch fields in South Central Texas
continue, where six wells were completed at the end of the first
quarter with work underway to drill six additional wells. Two
workovers are in progress with 16 more planned for 2005. In addition,
eight new drilling locations have been approved with another ten to
fifteen locations under evaluation.
   In South Louisiana, two workovers have been completed at South
Pass 24 with one in progress. At the company's Main Pass 116 complex
in the federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, the company has increased
net daily production to 14.5 MMcf from 1.6 MMcf over the past year.
Two workovers are also planned to further increase production and the
company is evaluating four prospects in the field for 2005. First
quarter results from all of the aforementioned efforts have brought
over 1,800 net barrels of oil per day and over 7.2 net MMcf of gas per
day on to production, making a substantial contribution toward the
increased volumes supporting a revised production target for 2005.
   At the end of the first quarter of 2005, the company had returned
to production 4,500 net BOE per day of the total 6,100 net BOE per day
of production which was temporarily shut-in due to the mudslides
experienced in California during January. To date, a total of 5,500
net BOE per day has been brought back on-line, with the remaining 600
daily BOE expected to be returned to production by the end of June.
The company currently estimates that it will complete the repair of
mudslide damage for a total cost of approximately $7.5 million, nearly
$1 million less than previous estimates. Of this amount, approximately
$3.5 million was expensed in the first quarter.

   United States - Exploration

   Vintage began 2005 with an inventory of 13 domestic exploration
prospects and a capital budget of $64 million. The focus of domestic
exploration activity is split between conventional exploration
targeting the Texas Gulf Coast and onshore unconventional gas resource
plays. Twenty-six million dollars has been allocated to the
unconventional gas resource exploration program to drill ten wells
during 2005 to test a minimum of four play concepts identified during
2004.
   In one of these unconventional plays, located in the Palo Duro
Basin of Texas, the company has secured a substantial leased and
optioned position in excess of 130,000 net acres. One exploratory well
was drilled and cored in the first quarter, with a second well
following early in the second quarter. Cores from these wells have
been sent to a third party lab for analysis and testing that will aid
in the formulation of the completion and stimulation program for these
wells. Vintage owns working interests in this venture which range
between 65 and 75 percent. To date, in excess of 70,000 net acres have
been acquired in four other areas of the country with the intention of
accumulating additional acreage and drilling test wells later in the
year.
   An additional $38 million has been allocated to conventional
exploration activities primarily targeting natural gas that can be
brought to production quickly. This endeavor anticipates drilling 11
exploration wells to test prospects primarily located in the onshore
and offshore Texas Gulf Coast.
   Two Miocene prospects were drilled at Matagorda Island 639 and 640
during the second half of 2004 with both encountering apparent pay
sands. Vintage holds a 25 percent working interest in this offshore
Texas gas prospect and expects these wells to be brought online with
the installation of production facilities late in the third quarter.
Vintage also controls a 53 percent working interest in acreage in the
Nueces Bay on the Texas Gulf Coast, where 3-D seismic covering a 55
square mile area has been acquired and is currently being processed.
In this play, Vintage is targeting gas in underdeveloped Frio and
Vicksburg sands.

   Argentina

   The company's forecasted production growth in 2005 is supported by
an increase in Argentina capital spending of 21 percent to $113
million, which targets the drilling of 110 wells. First quarter
activity included the drilling of 28 wells, with 13 in progress, and
the completion of 25 workovers. Currently there are six drilling rigs
and ten workover rigs active on the company's concessions in the San
Jorge and Cuyo Basins. Further, a portion of 2005 capital spending is
budgeted for the implementation of four waterflood projects which
could enhance production in 2006. Two of these projects have been
approved and implementation will begin in the second quarter.
   The company recently drilled and completed three wells on the
south flank of the San Jorge Basin with initial net production rates
between 880 and 1,950 BOPD, ranking them in the top five percent of
the more than 450 wells drilled by the company to date in Argentina.
One of the wells was drilled on a new 3-D seismic survey acquired
during 2004, thus reconfirming the continuing benefit of using this
technology in the selection of drilling locations.

   Yemen

   The recently completed An Nagyah #15 is one of three horizontal
wells planned for this year in order to complete development of the
field. Work began in late 2004 on the construction of a permanent
pipeline and central processing facility that is slated to have
initial gross daily capacity of 10,000 to 12,000 barrels of oil (5,200
to 6,250 net). The pipeline is scheduled for completion by the end of
June and will begin transporting oil at that time, with the central
processing facility scheduled for third quarter completion.

   International Exploration

   The company is continuing to pursue its exploration program in
Block S-1 in Yemen. Approximately $8 million has been allocated to
international exploration in 2005, with the majority dedicated to the
effort in Yemen. The company drilled one exploration prospect in the
Malaki area during the first quarter, but the well was non-productive
and plugged. A new exploration well on the company's Wadi Markhah
prospect, 31 miles (50 km) to the southeast of An Nagyah, is currently
being drilled and should be completed during the second quarter. Also
in Yemen, the company has installed two pumping units as part of a
long-term test to assess the economic feasibility for further
development of the reservoirs at our Harmel discovery.

   Vintage to Webcast First-Quarter 2005 Conference Call

   The company's teleconference call to review first quarter 2005
results will be broadcast live on a listen-only basis over the
internet on Thursday, May 5, 2005, at 3 p.m. Central time. Interested
parties may access the webcast by visiting the Vintage Petroleum, Inc.
website at www.vintagepetroleum.com and selecting the microphone icon,
or at www.fulldisclosure.com and typing VPI in the ticker search box
and selecting "Go". The teleconference may be accessed by dialing
800/362-0571 and providing the call identifier "Vintage" to the
operator. The webcast and the accompanying slide presentation will be
available for replay at the company's website. An audio replay will be
available until May 10, 2005, by dialing 402/220-1123.

   Forward-Looking Statements

   This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this
release, other than statements of historical facts, that address
future production, exploitation activities, exploration, operating
costs, capital spending, planned drilling levels, proved undeveloped,
probable and possible locations, and events or developments that the
company expects or believes are forward-looking statements. Although
Vintage 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. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in forward-looking statements include oil and
gas prices, company realizations, exploitation and exploration
successes, actions taken and to be taken by foreign governments as a
result of political and economic conditions or other factors, changes
in foreign exchange rates and inflation rates, continued availability
of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business
conditions as well as other risk factors described from time to time
in the company's filings with the SEC. The company assumes no
obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

   Vintage Petroleum, Inc. is an independent energy company engaged
in the acquisition, exploitation and exploration of oil and gas
properties and the marketing of natural gas and crude oil. Company
headquarters are in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and its common shares are traded
on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VPI. For additional
information, visit the company website at www.vintagepetroleum.com.