Kulczyk Oil Ventures Inc.

February 11, 2009 19:13 ET

Kulczyk Oil Ventures Inc.: Update on Proposed Offering and Listing in Poland

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Feb. 11, 2009) - Kulczyk Oil Ventures Inc. ("Kulczyk Oil" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement ("IPO Mandate Agreement") with Bank Zachodni WBK S.A. ("BZ WBK") and Dom Maklerski BZ WBK S.A. ("DM BZ WBK")(collectively, the "Contractor"), both of which are members of the Allied Irish Bank Capital Group and into a separate agreement with Lazard & Co., Limited ("Lazard").

Under the IPO Mandate Agreement Kulczyk Oil has retained the Contractor for advisory and book-building services in connection with the previously announced proposed initial public offering ("IPO") of its common shares ("Common Shares") in Poland (collectively the "Offering") and the listing ("Listing") of the Common Shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange ("Exchange"). To have its shares admitted for trading on the Exchange, Kulczyk Oil will need to file a prospectus and have it approved by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. Subject to market conditions, Kulczyk Oil's current target is to complete the Offering in conjunction with the Listing in the fourth quarter of 2009.

BZ WBK is the leading financial institution and IPO advisor in Poland. DM BZ WBK is the leading broker on the Exchange in terms of equity turnover and both the number and value of finalized IPO and secondary offerings. In the last three years DM BZ WBK has led or co-led nineteen public offerings with a total value in Polish zlotys ("PLN") of PLN 4.65 billion (US$1.34 billion). In 2008, DM BZ WBK was domestic joint lead manager for the IPO of ENEA S.A. (energy), which raised PLN 1.9 billion (US$549 million) and the sole bookrunner and lead manager for the IPO of Zaklady Azotowe Tarnow S.A. (chemicals), which raised PLN 296 million (US$85 million). BZ WBK acted as underwriter in both of these transactions.

The IPO Mandate Agreement outlines the services to be performed by the Contractor and provides that the Contractor will use its best efforts to assist Kulczyk Oil to complete the Offering and the Listing. The IPO Mandate Agreement contemplates that Kulczyk Oil and the Contractor will enter into an underwriting agreement prior to proceeding with the Offering pursuant to which the Contractor will act as an underwriter with respect to Common Shares offered to institutional investors. The Contractor will engage in pre-Offering analysis of the capital markets situation and many other variables and recommend an issue price range for the Common Shares under the Offering in due course.

Lazard has been appointed to act as financial advisor to Kulczyk Oil in matters related to the IPO and the Listing.

The Company stated in the Information Circular prepared and sent in connection with the special meeting of securityholders of Loon Energy Inc. ("Loon"), now Kulczyk Oil, held in December 2008 that it anticipated that the Offering and the Listing would be completed in the first half of 2009. It is now considered more likely that these will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2009 subject to the satisfaction of various conditions including market conditions and the business progress of Kulczyk Oil.

Kulczyk Oil is an international upstream oil and gas exploration and production company with direct interests in Brunei, Syria and Slovenia and exposure to a major exploration and development program in Pakistan through its shareholding in Jura Energy Corporation, a public company listed in Canada on the TSX. In addition to these interests, Kulczyk Oil is reviewing new growth opportunities within Central and Eastern Europe as well as other prolific hydrocarbon basins. The difficult current market environment is creating unique investment opportunities internationally, which until recently were overvalued or inaccessible. The main shareholder of the Company, holding approximately 68% of the currently issued Common Shares, is Kulczyk Investments S.A., an international investment house founded by Polish businessman Dr. Jan Kulczyk.

Kulczyk Oil, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, owns a 40% interest in a Production Sharing Agreement which gives it the right to explore for and produce oil and gas from Block L, a 550,000 acre (220,000 hectare) exploration and development area covering onshore and offshore areas in the northeastern portion of the Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam ("Brunei"). The offshore component is in relatively shallow waters, and includes a seven kilometre wide strip along the northwest coast and essentially all of Brunei Bay to the east. The giant Seria oil field, which has produced in excess of 1 billion barrels of oil, lies approximately 12 kilometres to the southwest of Block L. A new gas discovery at Bubut announced by Brunei Shell Petroleum in November 2007, lies less than one kilometre from the edge of Block L in the shallow offshore region. A 350 square kilometre 3D seismic program, which will evaluate the potential of a part of the block nearest to the Seria field, is currently underway and should be completed by mid-2009. The seismic will be followed by the drilling of two wells on the block, the first of which will spud in late 2009 or early in 2010. Nations Petroleum (SE Asia) Limited is funding the first US$20.5 million of exploration costs on Block L which is expected to cover essentially all of the cost of the 3D survey currently underway.

Kulczyk Oil, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, operates and holds a 100% interest in a Contract for the Exploration, Development and Production of Petroleum which gives it the right to explore for and produce oil and gas from Block 9, a 2.4 million acre (960,000 hectare) exploration block located in the northwest portion of the Syrian Arab Republic ("Syria") on the northern edge of a hydrocarbon producing sedimentary basin. Interpretation of reprocessed 2D seismic data is underway to be followed by acquisition of additional seismic data later in 2009.

The Brunei and Syria opportunities have been sourced and developed by the Kulczyk Oil management team over the past years at minimal cost to the Company. Kulczyk Oil is being carried through the initial seismic costs in Brunei and currently has more than US$15 million cash and zero debt. A number of new opportunities, which would add to the portfolio of the Company and expand its potential for future growth, are currently under review.

Some of the statements contained in this release may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements concerning estimates of recoverable hydrocarbons, expected hydrocarbon prices, expected costs, statements relating to the continued advancement of the Company's projects and other statements which are not historical facts. When used in this document, and in other published information of the Company, the words such as "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "potential," "should," and similar expressions are indicative of a forward-looking statement. Although the Company believes that its expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, the potential results suggested by such statements involve risk and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Various factors, which could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements, include the potential that the Company's projects will experience technical and mechanical problems, geological conditions in the reservoir which may negatively impact levels of oil and gas production and changes in product prices and other risks not anticipated by the Company or disclosed in the Company's published material. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties.

The TSX Venture Exchange neither approves nor disapproves of the information contained herein.