DALLAS, March 11, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Powder River Basin Gas Corp. (OTCBB:PRVB) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to have 63.3 per cent of its capital stock and management control acquired by Imperial Petroleum, Inc. (OTCBB:IPTM). Closing is scheduled for April 1, 2003.
"The acquisition and control of Powder River Basin Gas Corp and its approximate 12,000 acres of leases in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming significantly enhances our natural gas reserve base and provides the company with additional acreage upon which to conduct new drilling operations within the framework of our recently announced Xavier Financial relationship which was announced on the 4th of March," said Jeffrey T. Wilson, President of Imperial. "We believe that we can bring significant new funding to Powder River to complete its drilling program in Wyoming and to develop the substantial natural gas reserves in place under its leases."
"Because of the current state of the markets, finances and difficulty raising money, Imperial's deep resources of capital and ability to raise money will greatly enhance Powder River's ability to complete a number of drilling projects and bring us the ability to begin new drilling and exploration projects," said Greg Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Powder River Basin Gas Corp. "Powder River's share price has been greatly depressed due to lack of funding, inability to raise new funding and the difficult markets conditions of the last two years or so. By allowing Imperial to buy control of Powder River, this will greatly increase the ability for Powder River to immediately complete drilling on the Zullig lease where there are two wells completed and eleven wells awaiting completion. With Imperial's announcement of the 4th of March, the initial $4 Million of funding will enable Powder River to move forward completing the remaining eleven wells on the Zullig lease. The ultimate goal is to enable Powder River to execute our business plan which will greatly enhance shareholder value."
About Powder River Basin Gas Corp.
Powder River Basin Gas Corp. is an exploration, development and production company historically engaged in the evaluation and development of coal-bed methane ("CBM") reserves as well as shallow oil reserves within the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. The Company's current focus is to find undervalued proven properties in the Rocky Mountains, New Mexico and West Texas with long life reserves and price stability.
About Imperial Petroleum, Inc.
Imperial, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is active in crude oil and natural gas production, gold and platinum mining. Imperial is presently the largest shareholder and manages the business of Warrior Resources, Inc. (Pink Sheets:CMCY), the parent company of Double Eagle Petroleum Corp. which operates some 28 oil and gas wells in Texas and Mississippi capable of producing approximately 2,200 mcf per day and 80 bopd in net production.
Imperial is headquartered in Evansville, IN.
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described herein. Although the Company believes that the expectations in such statements to be reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.