AAK Arawak

    RNS Number : 3145E
  Arawak Energy Limited
  25 September 2008
   




    Arawak ENERGY LIMITEd
    Whiteley Chambers, Don Street, St. Helier, Jersey JE4 9WG

    LSE & TSX TRADING SYMBOL: AAK

    25 September 2008

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    ARAWAK RECEIVES AKZHAR & BESBOLEK DEVELOPMENT ApprovalS

    Arawak Energy Limited ("Arawak"), the independent oil and gas company with exploration, development and production assets in Kazakhstan,
Russia and Azerbaijan, is pleased to announce that the government regulatory authority in Kazakhstan, the Central Committee for Development,
has approved the technical plans of development for the Akzhar and Besbolek oil fields allowing the Company to transition from the
exploration phase to the development phase for these blocks.

    Previously shut-in wells are already being put on production and drilling will re-commence shortly. Earlier in the year, development
drilling at Akzhar and Besbolek was suspended and some production shut in due to regulatory constraints imposed during the approval process
of the technical plan of development.

    The Company has contracted four drilling rigs to work on Akzhar and Besbolek, and drilling of the first new well will begin at Besbolek
in the next few days. By mid-October, all four rigs are expected to be active, with a ten well drilling programme for each block to be
completed by year end.

    Alastair McBain, Arawak's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "This is an important milestone in the development of Akzhar
and Besbolek, our most prolific assets in Kazakhstan and the most immediate source of growth for our production stream. Our team has
responded quickly in commencing the re-opening of shut-in production and starting up an aggressive drilling programme which will add new
production and resume strong growth."

During the approval process of the technical plan of development, the State Committee for Reserves in Kazakhstan approved the Company*s C1
plus C2 State Balance Reserves for Akzhar and Besbolek at 51.3 million barrels and 12.1 million barrels, respectively. The State Balance
Reserves were prepared by a Kazakhstan engineering institute and form the basis of the production plan approved by the State. The State
Balance Reserves methodology is not consistent with the definitions and standards set out in the Canadian National Instrument 51-101 (*NI
51-101*), according to which the Company*s oil and gas reserves are evaluated on an annual basis, and prepared by qualified independent
reserve auditors as defined under NI 51-101. C1 plus C2 reserves are not equivalent to the proved plus probable reserve classification under
NI 51-101. In accordance with NI 51-101, proved plus probable reserves as of 31 December 2007 for Akzhar and Besbolek were 23.4 million and
7.9 million barrels of oil respectively, but do not take into account work undertaken in 2008.

      For further information please contact:

    Arawak Energy Limited                               Tel: +44 (0) 20 7973 4285
    Tanya Pang, Head of Investor Relations           Fax: +44 (0) 20 7824 8466
    E-mail:    info@arawakenergy.com                  Web: www.arawakenergy.com

    Brunswick Group LLP                                  Tel: +44 (0)20 7404 5959
    Patrick Handley    

    JPMorgan Cazenove Limited                       Tel: +44 (0)20 7588 2828
    Steve Baldwin            
    Neil Haycock

    Oriel Securities Limited                               Tel: +44 (0)20 7710 7600
    Richard Crawley 
    Natalie Fortescue

    Notes to editors

Arawak*s Common Shares are listed for trading on both the TSX and the LSE under the symbol "AAK". The Company is engaged in the exploration,
development and production of oil and natural gas in Kazakhstan, Russia and Azerbaijan. In Kazakhstan, the Company holds five producing
fields and two exploration blocks. The Company has a 40% participating interest in the Saigak producing block acquired in June 2008. The
remaining assets are held through its 100% wholly-owned subsidiary Altius Energy Corporation (*Altius*). Altius* main producing field is
Akzhar with smaller fields at Besbolek, Karataikyz and Alimbai. The two exploration blocks East Zharkamys III and Tamdykol are also situated
in western Kazakhstan. Arawak*s producing assets in Russia are held through ZAO PechoraNefteGas (*PNG*) and LLC NK Recher-Komi
(*Recher-Komi*), in which Arawak has a 50% interest with the remaining interest being held by Lundin Petroleum AB. Also in Russia, Arawak
holds a 100% interest in the Kymbozhyuskaya exploration block and in the South Sotchemyu appraisal block. In Azerbaijan, the Company*s asset is its interest in the Exploration Development and Production
Sharing Agreement (*EDPSA*) for the South West Gobustan oil and gas fields. CGL, a company registered in Anguilla, British West Indies, in
which the Company has a 37.17% interest, holds an 80% interest in the EDPSA with the remaining 20% held by an affiliate of SOCAR. The
remaining 62.83% share in CGL is held by two affiliates of the project operator, CNPC.

    This announcement includes "forward-looking statements", including statements with respect to Arawak's anticipated exploration and
development activities which are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a
variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in
the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the oil and gas
industry (including operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or
development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections in relation
to production, costs and expenses and health, safety and environmental risks), the risk of commodity price and foreign exchange rate
fluctuations, the uncertainty associated with commercial negotiations and negotiating with foreign governments and risks associated with international activity. Although Arawak believes that its
expectations represented by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to
be correct. Additionally, the estimates of reserves and future net revenue for individual properties may not reflect the same confidence
level as estimates of reserves and future net revenue for all properties, due to the effects of aggregation. As of 31 December, 2007
Arawak's total proved reserves in Kazakhstan were 21.5 million barrels of oil and total probable reserves in Kazakhstan were 13.3 million
barrels of oil. Due to the risks, uncertainties and assumptions inherent in forward-looking statements, prospective investors in the
Company's securities should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. For a detailed description of the risks and
uncertainties facing Arawak, readers should refer to Arawak's Annual Information Form for the year ended 31 December, 2007 and dated 31 March, 2008 as filed at www.sedar.com.




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