Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. reports the discovery of oil at its Quifa-8 well drilled as an appraisal well on Prospect "E" at the Quifa Block, located in the Llanos Basin of Colombia.

The well found the top of the Basal Sandstones at a depth of 2,263 feet True Vertical Depth Sub-Sea (TVDSS) (2,955 feet measured depth (MD)). The preliminary petrophysical evaluation shows a gross sand interval of 116 feet with a net pay zone of 49.5 feet comprising two reservoir sandstones. The first interval (2955'- 2999' MD) extends the accumulation of the Quifa-5 field to the west, with a net-oil pay of 33 feet and average porosity of 31%. A second, deeper sand interval (3048'-3071'MD) with a petrophysical evaluation shows a net-oil pay of 16.5 feet with 32% average porosity. This deeper interval effectively confirms a new discovery within the basal sands. Both intervals show oil-water contacts at 2,999 feet and 3,071 feet MD, respectively. The company is presently planning to test both reservoirs, and complete the well as a vertical oil producer.

The Quifa-8 well is located 4.2 kilometres southwest of the Quifa-5 well drilled in November 2008, which showed 33 feet of net pay.

The Quifa Block is an exploratory block that almost completely surrounds the Rubiales Field in which the company holds a 60% interest in association with Ecopetrol S.A. (40%). The Quifa contract gives Pacific Rubiales the right to develop any discovery until 2031. This block is three times larger than the Rubiales field and has seven additional prospects that have been identified with the interpretation of the recently completed seismic campaign.

Exploration Update The company converted the Arauca Technical Evaluation Agreement (TEA) into a new Exploration & Production (E&P) contract with the Agencia Nacional de Hidrocraburos (ANH). This contract contemplates a 24-month first exploratory phase with work commitments of two exploratory wells at an estimated total cost of US$9,000,000. The contract incorporates an area of 173,584 hectares with an estimated resource potential of 297.7 mmbls, distributed among 16 prospects and leads that have been identified based on the reprocessing of 2,000 kms of 2D seismic.

Following an optimization and re-evaluation of its exploration portfolio, the company has decided to relinquish the Alhucema and Jagueyes E&P contracts executed with the ANH.

The Alhucema block is located in the Middle Magdalena Basin, and was acquired by the company in the acquisition of Kappa Resources in the second half of 2008. The company decided to relinquish the E&P contract, and not to continue with phase 4 of the contract, after interpreting new seismic data acquired in 2009 and re-evaluating the prospectivity and risk of the block. The company's working interest in the block was 50%, with the remaining 50% held by Alhucema Resources Corp.

The Jagueyes block is located in the northern part of the Llanos Basin and was acquired in the second half of 2007 through an ANH bidding round. After the processing and evaluation of 112 km(2) of 3D seismic, acquired as part of phase 1 of the contract, the company decided not to proceed with the next phase, since no prospective exploratory plays could be identified. The company's working interest in this block was 100%.

Relinquishing these properties is part of the company's strategy to optimize its exploratory efforts and focus its resources on blocks with the best prospectivity.

Tags: Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp.