DENVER, July 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Petroleum
Corporation (Delta or the Company) (NASDAQ Capital Market: DPTRD),
an independent oil and gas exploration and development company,
announced today that it retained Netherland
Sewell & Associates, Inc. (NSAI or Netherland Sewell) to provide independent
engineering of the Company's proved, probable and possible reserves
and resources in support of the Company's strategic alternatives
process. NSAI has recently concluded its evaluation and
estimates Delta's total proved reserves at 674 billion cubic feet
equivalent (Bcfe) based upon the forward curve of commodity prices
as of June 30, 2011, and total
proved, probable and possible reserves to be approximately 2.6
trillion cubic feet equivalent (Tcfe) from the Williams Fork
section. NSAI also estimates an additional unrisked prospective
resource of between 6 – 10 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe) per
well from the Niobrara and Mancos
shales, assuming between 80 – 160 acre spacing. The Company
currently has approximately 22,400 net acres in the Vega Area.
See "Reserve/Resource Disclosure" below for more explanation
with respect to NSAI's reserve and resource estimates and the
assumptions used by NSAI in making such estimates. NSAI utilized
the guidelines and definitions set forth in the 2007 Petroleum
Resources Management System as approved by the Society of Petroleum
Engineers.
Carl Lakey, Delta's President and
CEO stated, "Netherland Sewell is a
highly respected reserve engineering firm with outstanding
knowledge of North American shale plays and the Piceance Basin in
particular. The independent engineering estimates validate
the Vega Area as an exceptional core asset with significant
upside."
RESERVE/RESOURCE DISCLOSURE
The SEC permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the
SEC, to characterize as proved reserves only those accumulations of
hydrocarbons that a company has demonstrated by actual production
or conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally
producible under existing economic and operating conditions, and
that are part of an approved five-year development plan. In
this release, we use the terms "proved reserves", "proved, probable
and possible reserves", "resources" and other descriptions of
volumes of hydrocarbons potentially recoverable, through additional
drilling or recovery techniques. None of the reserve
estimates contained in this release conform to SEC guidelines.
The NSAI reserve estimates presented in this release have
been determined using strip pricing and assume a non-existent Board
approved five year development plan with four rigs in operation,
and therefore do not comply with SEC standards. Netherland
Sewell's estimates of proved, probable and possible reserves and
resources are provided in this release based on the foregoing
assumptions because the Company's management believes it is useful
additional information in the valuation, comparison and analysis of
companies and assets. Estimates of unproved reserves or resources
which may potentially be recoverable through additional drilling or
recovery techniques, or under different pricing assumptions, are by
their nature much more uncertain than estimates of proved reserves
and accordingly are subject to substantially greater risk of not
actually being realized by the Company.
ABOUT DELTA PETROLEUM
Delta Petroleum Corporation is an oil and gas exploration and
development company based in Denver,
Colorado. The Company's core area of operation is the Rocky
Mountain Region, where the majority of its proved reserves,
production and long-term growth prospects are located. Its
common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market System under
the symbol "DPTRD" until on or around August
10, 2011, when the symbol will return to "DPTR."
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Forward-looking statements in this announcement are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking
statements include, without limitation, estimated reserve and
resource potential. Readers are cautioned that all
forward-looking statements are based on management's present
expectations, estimates and projections, but involve risks and
uncertainty, including without limitation, the effects of oil and
natural gas prices, availability of capital to fund required
payments on the Company's debt obligations and its working capital
needs, including drilling and completion activities, contraction in
the demand for natural gas in the United
States, uncertainties in the projection of future rates of
production, unanticipated recovery or production problems,
unanticipated results from wells being drilled or completed, the
effects of delays in completion of gas gathering systems, pipelines
and processing facilities, regulations that might be adopted in the
future that could, among other things, significantly limit or
curtail hydraulic fracturing techniques used in the Piceance Basin,
as well as general economic conditions, market conditions and
competition. Please refer to the Company's report on Form 10-K for
the year ended December 31, 2010 and
subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K as filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission for additional risks and
uncertainties affecting the Company. The Company is under no
obligation (and expressly disclaims any obligation) to update or
alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
For further information contact the Company at (303) 293-9133 or
via email at investorrelations@deltapetro.com
SOURCE Delta Petroleum Corporation
