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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: marc chatman who wrote (47390)	7/6/1999 9:24:00 AM
From: The Ox	Respond to of 95453

Venus Exploration Inc. Announces the Closing of the Acquisition of Properties From Apache Corporation SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 6, 1999--Venus Exploration Inc. (Nasdaq:VENX) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Louisiana-based oil and gas properties from Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA). Venus and EXCO Resources Inc. (Nasdaq:EXCO) have formed a joint venture ("Venture") to acquire the properties from Apache. Venus and EXCO will each own 50% of the Venture. EXCO will be the operator of the joint venture. These are the same properties described in the Venus press release dated May 26, 1999. The Venture paid $28,500,000 for the properties, located in the Vernon Field, Jackson Parish, La. This field contains 18 gas wells, producing an aggregate of approximately 6,500 Mcf gas per day net to the interest being acquired by the Venture. The production is from the Lower Cotton Valley Formation, encountered at a depth of 12,500 feet below the surface. The Venture has established an Area of Mutual Interest, which encompasses the properties acquired from Apache. During the last half of calendar-year 1999, the Venture expects to commence a multi-well development program within the Venture with the drilling of two 13,500-foot development wells. Venus' share of the cost of the acquisition was financed through a combination of bank debt and the sale to EXCO of a $7 million 5-year convertible note. The note is convertible into shares of Venus Common Stock at $1.50 per share beginning in July 2000. Venus has the option to repay the note prior to July 2000. Commenting on the acquisition, Eugene L. Ames Jr., Venus' Chairman and Chief Executive officer, said, "This acquisition will more than double Venus' estimated reserves. The drilling of proved, undeveloped locations in the Vernon Field, as well as in other fields under active development offers excellent potential for accelerating Venus' reserve and production growth. Given adequate sources of capital for additional acquisitions and exploitation of these fields, I am confident we can build the critical mass of the company and shareholder value significantly in the next few years." San Antonio-based Venus Exploration specializes in the application of advanced geoscience technology in the identification of field acquisition, exploitation and exploration projects containing significant undeveloped potential. Sagestone Capital Partners, Houston, Texas, provided financial and investment banking advisory services to Venus. Venus and its predecessor companies have a long history of finding large quantities of oil and natural gas in Texas, the Mid-Continent and Louisiana. Its roots stretch back to 1912. Venus became a public company two years ago trading on the Nasdaq SmallCap(tm) stock market under the symbol VENX. This News Release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Those forward-looking statements address such matters as discovery of oil pays, which are geological conclusions drawn from preliminary test data, non-proven drilling locations and production growth and discovery potential from undrilled wells. Although these statements are based on the data available at the time this material was prepared and although Venus believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its goals will be achieved, or that its conclusions will be supported by actual future production or drilling successes. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include federal and state regulatory developments, the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices, the timing and extent of success in acquiring leasehold interests, the success in developing and producing oil and gas reserves, geological uncertainties and conditions of the capital and equity markets during the periods covered by the forward-looking statements contained in the company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. --30--csd/sa* sw/sa CONTACT: Venus Exploration Inc., San Antonio John Y. Ames, 210/930-4900 ext. 1104 www.venusexploration.com