WELLINGTON, New Zealand, May 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. (TSX-V: APX; NZSX: APX; Amex: AEN) Chief executive, Thom Jewell, said the company recorded a loss of $6,567,884 for the quarter ended March 31, 2008. The majority ($4.4mm) of this figure relates to non cash components associated primarily with unrealised derivative losses and depletion. The underlying performance of the company is strong. The company has made significant gains over the period resulting in a reduction of its liability from $49mm to $32mm and managing its short term financial challenges by restructuring its loans and reduction of its long term debt from $18 to $14.5mm with a further reduction to $11mm expected during the second quarter. The company has also been successful in monetising one its non core projects in Papua New Guinea at an opportune point in its value cycle. "We will continue to high grade the portfolio of assets with disciplined capital spending, divestments and additions as warranted," said Jewell. The Cheal field continues to pump cash into the organisation. The Company's 69.5% of the Cheal field has produced 35,931 barrels of oil and generated net revenue of $2,817,267 during the quarter. Jewell said, "the individual wells are performing as anticipated and I am confident that we will be able to increase both the reserves and the total field production with additional drilling. We are also pleased with the performance of the A1 well which is the first producing well from the shallower Urenui sands overlying the entire Cheal field. Bringing this well on stream this quarter and will allow us to realise additional reserves and production for the field." Two additional wells have been prepared and could spud before the end of this month. While these wells are targeting incremental reserves, the facilities are designed to allow successful exploration, appraisal or development wells to be converted to producing wells and put on stream rapidly. More than 10 additional drilling locations have been targeted to extend the play trend beyond the existing field but within the permit area over the next two years. These wells if successful may be produced through the world class production facilities that are now in place and operating smoothly. "We have a staged forward work programme which will be funded out of existing funds, future production revenue and by raising additional capital." Jewell said. "This program includes further work on Cheal to increase reserves and subsequent production, and development of the Kahili and Cardiff assets." Web site: http://www.austral-pacific.com/ Email: Phone: Thom Jewell, CEO +64 (4) 495 0880 or Brad Holmes +1 (713) 304 6962 None of the Exchanges upon which Austral Pacific's securities trade have approved or disapproved the contents hereof. This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable legislation. Other than statements of historical fact, all statements in this release addressing future production, reserve potential, exploration and development activities and other contingencies are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, due to factors such as market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market, political or business conditions. See our public filings at http://www.sedar.com/ and http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm for further information. DATASOURCE: Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. CONTACT: Thom Jewell, CEO, +64 (4) 495 0880, or Brad Holmes, +1-713-304-6962, both of Austral Pacific Energy Ltd., Web site: http://www.austral-pacific.com/

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