Tullow Oil PLC - Poised for a Takeover?

20/12/2006

20 December 2006 – Tullow Oil plc (Tullow) announces that on 18 December 2006, shareholders of Hardman Resources Limited (Hardman) voted in favour of the acquisition of Hardman by Tullow and that on 19 December 2006, the Federal Court of Australia approved the Scheme of Arrangement relating to this acquisition. The Scheme therefore became effective today.

As a result of the Scheme becoming effective, Hardman shares will be suspended from trading on the Australian Stock Exchange from close of trading today in Australia and trading of Hardman shares on AIM will be suspended prior to commencement of today’s trading in London.

The Record Date for participation in the Scheme is 2 January 2007 with an Implementation Date of 10 January 2007.

Commenting today, Aidan Heavey, Chief Executive of Tullow, said:

“We are delighted to receive Shareholder and Court Approval for the acquisition of Hardman. We look forward to the transaction being implemented in early January and the rapid integration of the Hardman business. We are very excited by the material production, development and exploration opportunities this deal presents. In particular we are looking forward to accelerating the current drilling programme in the Albertine Basin in Uganda to build upon the very encouraging results we have seen there to date”.