VANCOUVER, Jan. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - TAG Oil Ltd. (the
"Company" or "TAG") (TSX: TAO and OTCQX: TAOIF)
announced today that Apache New Zealand
Corporation LDC ("ANZ") has informed the Company that it
will elect not to undertake the
Phase 2 program under the Farmout Agreement dated September 1, 2011,
between Eastern Petroleum (NZ) Limited ("Eastern"), Orient
Petroleum (NZ) Limited ("Orient") and ANZ (the "Farmout
Agreement") relating to drilling in the East Coast Basin of
New Zealand. Eastern
and Orient are indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries of TAG.
TAG intends to continue and complete the Phase 1 program.
Under the
Farmout Agreement, ANZ is obligated to pay all costs and
expenses
actually incurred or committed in respect of the Phase 1
program.
TAG CEO Garth Johnson stated "We
look forward to executing our long-term
goal for the East Coast; to drill and hopefully prove the concept
of
unconventional oil potential in this frontier basin."
TAG Oil Ltd.
TAG Oil Ltd. ( http://www.tagoil.com/) is a Canadian-based
production and exploration company with operations
focused exclusively in New
Zealand. With 100% ownership over all its
core assets, including oil and gas production infrastructure, TAG
is
enjoying substantial oil and gas production and reserve growth
through
development of several light oil and gas discoveries. TAG is
also
actively drilling high-impact exploration prospects identified
across
more than 2,953,810 net acres of land in New Zealand.
In the East Coast Basin, TAG will explore and potentially develop
the
major unconventional resource potential believed to exist in the
tight
oil source-rock formations that are widespread over the
Company's
acreage. These oil-rich and naturally fractured formations have
many
similarities to North America's
Bakken source-rock formation in the
successful Williston Basin.
Important information:
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
Statements contained in this news release that are not historical
facts
are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and
uncertainty affecting the business of TAG. Such statements can
be
generally, but not always, identified by words such as
"expects",
"plans", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "forecasts",
"schedules", "prepares", "potential" and similar expressions, or
that
events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should"
occur.
All estimates and statements that describe the Company's
objectives,
goals or future plans are forward-looking statements under
applicable
securities laws and necessarily involve risks and uncertainties
including, without limitation: risks associated with oil and
gas
exploration, development, exploitation, production, marketing
and
transportation, availability of adequate funding, volatility of
commodity prices, imprecision of reserve estimates,
environmental
risks, competition from other producers, and changes in the
regulatory
and taxation environment. Actual results may vary materially from
the
information provided in this release, and there is no
representation by
TAG that the actual results realized in the future will be the same
in
whole or in part as those presented herein.
Other factors that could cause actual results to differ from
those
contained in the forward-looking statements are also set forth
in
filings that TAG and its independent evaluator have made,
including
TAG's most recently filed reports in Canada under National Instrument
51-101, which can be found under TAG's SEDAR profile at
www.sedar.com. TAG undertakes no obligation, except as otherwise
required by law, to
update these forward-looking statements in the event that
management's
beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors change.
SOURCE TAG Oil Ltd.