NEWSROOM

    TORONTO, Oct. 7 /CNW/ - Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (TSX: PRE)
announced today an update on its operations in Colombia, reporting on the
continuous progress of its business plan.
    As part of its development plan for the Rubiales field, located in the
Llanos Basin in eastern Colombia, the company drilled 39 wells from January,
2008 to September, 2008, of which 27 were production wells (17 vertical and
10 horizontal), 9 were appraisal wells, 2 were exploration wells and 1 was an
injection well. The company expects to complete its program by drilling
41 additional wells during the remaining part of 2008 through the simultaneous
use of 8 drilling rigs in the field. The company has also made significant
headway in its seismic mapping program in the Rubiales field, having completed
310 km of 2D, 42 km of 3C and 251 km(2) of 3D.
    As a result of these activities the company has been able to increase the
gross production of the Rubiales field from 20,487 barrels of oil per day
(bopd) at the beginning of 2008 to 45,017 bopd as of October 6, 2008, an
increase of approximately 120%. Including production from its light/medium oil
assets located elsewhere in Colombia, the company now has total gross oil
production of 51,526 bopd as of October 6, 2008.
    At the company's La Creciente natural gas field, located in north western
Colombia, production capacity at the well head remains at 100 million standard
cubic feet per day (mmscfd). Promigas, the company that transports natural gas
from the field, has finished laying the line loop that will increase the
transport capacity out of the field to 60 mmscfd from the current 41 mmscfd.
    The company recently completed drilling an exploration well at La
Creciente, well LC-J1, located in prospect J. The well found the Cienaga de
Oro formation at 11,094 feet true vertical depth (TVD) (12,041 feet measured
depth (MD)), and the basement at 11,993 feet TVD (12,940 feet MD). Three
intervals were tested; basement, middle and upper Cienaga de Oro. There was no
evidence of gas in commercial quantities. The well was therefore suspended for
further evaluation.
    The Saxon-133 rig used by the company at the La Creciente block has now
been moved to the Moriche block in the Llanos Basin of Colombia, where
exploration well Mauritia N-West 1 will be spudded in the next few days.
    The exploration activities of the company have continued at a steady pace
during fiscal 2008. To date, the company has processed or reprocessed 316
km(2) of 3D and 5,198 km of 2D seismic data for the La Creciente, Guama,
Moriche and Arauca blocks in preparation for the exploration campaign over the
next 12 months.
    Ronald Pantin, the company's Chief Executive Officer, stated "We continue
to deliver on all fronts, exploration and production, in the certainty that
the successful execution of our strategy will bring focus to our organization
and value to our 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
26,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with working interests in 26 blocks
in Colombia and blocks 135, 137 and 138 in 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.

    %SEDAR: 00007953E