NEWSROOM

    TORONTO, Feb. 19 /CNW/ - Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (TSX: PRE) is
pleased to announce that it has appointed Citivalores S.A. Sociedad
Comisionista de Bolsa in Colombia to advise the company on the listing of its
shares on the "RNVE", the Registro Nacional de Valores y Emisores in Colombia,
as well as on the "BVC", the Bolsa de Valores de Colombia. Both listings will
qualify as secondary listings, and the company's primary exchange will remain
the Toronto Stock Exchange.
    If these applications are accepted, Pacific Rubiales will become the
first foreign issuer to be listed on the BVC. The dual listings will enable
the company to expand its institutional and retail investor base in the
country where it has the majority of its operations and where the capital
markets are rapidly growing within the Andean region. The company does not
anticipate making an offering in conjunction with these listings and therefore
there will be no dilution to existing shareholders.
    Ronald Pantin, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We believe that this
listing will broaden our shareholder base and raise our profile in the region.
It will also create opportunities for pension funds and individual
shareholders in Colombia to invest in a company whose operations support the
local economy."
    The listing on the BVC will be subject to the local regulations
applicable to foreign issuers, issued by the Superintendencia Financiera de
Colombia, BVC, Central Depository System (DECEVAL) as well as any other
regulation or authority that should apply to this transaction. The application
process will take approximately six months, following the completion of all
regulatory steps. All reporting and disclosure regulations, including
corporate governance, voting rights and proxy voting will be in accordance
with Canadian and Colombian regulations, as applicable to foreign investors.
    Pacific Rubiales will appoint a depository agent in Colombia to maintain
shareholder records and this agent will be responsible for dividend payments
and all other matters regarding shareholder rights, as determined by the
company's shareholders.

    Pacific Rubiales, a Canadian-based company and producer of natural gas
and heavy crude oil, owns 100 percent of Meta Petroleum Limited, 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.
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 a current net production of approximately
32,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with working interests in 34 blocks
in Colombia and Peru.
    Boe may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe
conversion ratio of 6 mcf:1 bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion
method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value
equivalency at the wellhead.

    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 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
28, 2008 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.

    %SEDAR: 00007953E