Austral Announces PNG Asset Sale and Debt Reduction

Share Name	Share Symbol	Market	Type
Adeona Pharmaceuticals Common Stock	AMEX:AEN	AMEX	Ordinary Share

Adeona Pharmaceuticals Common Stock (AMEX:AEN)
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand, March 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. (TSX-V: APX; NZSX: APX; Amex: AEN) announces that it has signed an agreement with Horizon Energy for the purchase of Austral's 28.92% interest in Papua New Guinea petroleum retention license (PRL) 4 and 10.7% interest in PRL 5. The offers are subject to the pre-emptive rights in the relevant joint venture agreement, which give the existing joint venture parties a 45 day period in which to take up an option to purchase a proportionate share of Austral's interest on the same terms and conditions as the Horizon agreement. The Company plans to use the proceeds of sale to accelerate loan repayments under the Company's debt facility with Investec. The amount outstanding under the debt facility is US$18.65m. Under the arrangement, Austral will, using the proceeds of sale, along with other scheduled reductions and the set-off of funds being held in a reserve account, reduce the company debt to US$11 million by May 31, 2008, a reduction of $7.5 million. Commenting on the early repayment and asset sale, Company CEO Mr. Jewell said, "Now is a good time to reduce the company's debt profile, strengthen the balance sheet, and retain its focus on the growth of production from our core assets including the Cheal field development, Kahili Gas Development and Cardiff appraisal. To facilitate this, Austral has completed a review of its inventory of projects and will monetize non-core assets where the divestment can take advantage of the value cycle of the asset and deliver economic value to the company." Mr. Jewell also said, "Austral has funding and plans in place to drill additional wells in the Cheal field in the second quarter of this year." Additionally Austral and the holders of $10 million in redeemable preferred shares convertible at $1.30 have agreed to swap those shares for an unsecured $10 million debenture with the same economic terms as the preferred shares. The preferred shares are currently carried within Austral accounts as long-term debt under generally accepted accounting principles. Web site: http://www.austral-pacific.com/ Email: Phone: Thom Jewell, CEO +64 (4) 495 0880 or Brad Holmes: +1 (713) 304 6962 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, +64 [4] 495 0880, or Brad Holmes, +1-713-304-6962, both of Austral Pacific Energy Ltd., Web site: http://www.austral-pacific.com/

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AEN Adeona Pharmaceuticals Common Stock