TAG Oil and Trans-Orient Petroleum will move their technical and operational base to New Plymouth in the Taranaki region, New Zealand's oil and gas center. The companies will together strengthen the base's technical and operational capability by building a regional team to facilitate their recently expanded operations.

"Both companies are moving towards a wave of activity, and we want to ensure that our technical and operational abilities are solidly established," explained Garth Johnson, CEO for both TAG and Trans-Orient. "In this regard, I am pleased to announce that Mr. Carlos Kazianis will be promoted to New Zealand Operations Manager for both companies."

Mr. Kazianis has an excellent track record of operational success and has extensive international field experience in well-site supervision, management of drilling operations and critical technical support. He also provides collation and completion of geological prognoses for drilling, well planning and many other management responsibilities. Mr. Kazianis has worked in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. He was previously a base manager for Geoservices in Thailand, senior advisor to the Petroleum and Minerals Investment Unit of New Zealand's Crown Minerals, and is a former lieutenant in the New Zealand Army.

The companies also announced today that in order to facilitate restructuring of their expanded operations in New Zealand, Drew Cadenhead will resign as COO of Trans-Orient and relocate from its head office in Vancouver, B.C. to New Zealand to provide ongoing technical support to TAG and Trans-Orient. Mr. Cadenhead holds a bachelor's degree in geology from the University of Calgary and has extensive technical experience in Western Canada and New Zealand.

"Our goal is cost-effectively to provide both companies with broad operational and technical skill as we accelerate our exploration strategy and more importantly, full development of the Cheal oil discovery, which is paramount to our near-term production growth strategy," Johnson further commented. "Both TAG and Trans-Orient have over a decade of New Zealand exploration history, and collectively share an extensive technical database that enables us to identify additional opportunities within our significant acreage position."

Tags: TAG Oil Ltd., Trans-Orient Petroleum Ltd.