NEWSROOM

TORONTO, Feb. 1, 2012 /CNW/ - Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (TSX: PRE; BVC: PREC) announced today that it has received approval from the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (the "CVM"), the Brazilian regulatory entity in charge of supervising public issuers, and the Brazilian stock exchange called BM&FBOVESPA S.A. - Bolsa de Valores Mercadorias e Futuros (the "BM&FBOVESPA") for the trading on BM&FBOVESPA of Brazilian Depositary Receipts (the "BDRs") representing the Company's common shares. Pacific Rubiales is the first Canadian company to have BDRs listed on the Brazilian stock exchange. The BDRs will be freely traded beginning at the opening of markets on February 2, 2012 under the symbol "PREB" at an opening ceremony at BM&FBOVESPA attended by several of the Company's senior executives.

Mr. Ronald Pantin, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are proud to be the first Canadian company to be listed in Brazil. We look forward to engaging in the Brazilian capital market and expanding our shareholder base into this region."

Listing on the BM&FBOVESPA qualifies as a secondary listing, and the Company's primary exchange remains the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The listing on the BM&FBOVESPA does not involve the issuance of new common shares of the Company as the BDRs are structured solely to provide access to the common shares of the Company that are currently issued and outstanding, and trading on the TSX, to be tradeable by investors through the facilities of BM&FBOVESPA. Other than enabling investors to buy and sell the BDRs in Brazil in Brazilian Reais, the listing will not result in any changes to the rights and entitlements of the holders of the Company's shares, irrespective of whether they purchase their shares through the TSX, BVC (the Colombian Stock Exchange) or BM&FBOVESPA.

The process for the listing of the BDRs started approximately four months ago (see press release dated October 6, 2011) and involved the participation and collaboration of a number of entities, including Itau Corretora de Valores S.A. ("Itau") as the depositary institution, Ernst & Young LLP, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (Brazil) and Souza, Cescon, Barrieu & Flesch Advogados as Brazilian counsel.

The Company has appointed Gustavo Duarte Paes as its legal representative in Brazil. Investors who would like more information about the Company should contact Mr. Paes at pacific@cmnadvogados.com or +55-11-3011-0700.

As an incentive for investors to purchase the Company's BDRs, the Company has negotiated with Itau to waive the applicable issuance fee for BDRs issued in the first three months of trading, that is, until May 2, 2012. Investors who are interested in purchasing the Company's BDRs should contact their local broker or Itau at dr.itau@itau-unibanco.com.br or +55-11-2797-3409.

Pacific Rubiales, a Canadian-based company and producer of natural gas and heavy crude oil, owns 100 percent of Meta Petroleum Corp., a Colombian oil operator which operates the Rubiales and Piriri oil fields in the Llanos Basin in association with Ecopetrol, S.A., the Colombian national oil company, and 100 percent of Pacific Stratus Energy Corp. which operates the La Creciente natural gas field. The Company is focused on identifying opportunities primarily within the eastern Llanos Basin of Colombia as well as in other areas in Colombia and northern Peru. Pacific Rubiales has working interests in 46 blocks in Colombia, Peru and Guatemala.

The Company's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and La Bolsa de Valores de Colombia under the ticker symbols PRE and PREC, respectively. 

Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding estimates and/or assumptions in respect of production, revenue, cash flow and costs, reserve and resource estimates, potential resources and reserves and the company's exploration and development plans and objectives) are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the company based on information currently available to the company. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, production estimates and estimated economic return; the possibility that actual circumstances will differ from the estimates and assumptions; failure to establish estimated resources or reserves; fluctuations in petroleum prices and currency exchange rates; inflation; changes in equity markets; political developments in Colombia, Guatemala or Peru; changes to regulations affecting the company's activities; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data; and the other risks disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the company's annual information form dated March 11, 2011 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.