TAOIF TAG Oil Ltd New (QX)

VANCOUVER, April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - TAG Oil Ltd. (TSX: TAO) and (OTCQX:
TAOIF), is pleased to announce that drilling of the Ngapaeruru-1
exploration well is now underway in TAG's 100% controlled Petroleum
Exploration Permit 38349, located in the East Coast Basin of New
Zealand. The Ngapaeruru-1 exploration well, spudded at 4:30am on April
22^nd, 2013 is targeting the Waipawa Black Shale and Whangai source rock
formations at an anticipated depth of 1,800 meters, and will test the
unconventional discovery potential in this portion of the Basin.

The Waipawa Black Shale and Whangai formations are high-quality source
rock formations present throughout most of TAG's million-acre East
Coast Basin land holdings. These oil-and gas-rich source rocks are
comparable in total organic carbon content and oil and gas maturity
levels to successful tight oil and gas plays such as North Dakota's
Bakken shale in the prolific Williston Basin.

Garth Johnson, TAG Oil's CEO commented, "Our strategy has always been to
build reserves, production infrastructure, and cash flow from our lower
risk conventional assets, leveraging these successes to intelligently
pursue high-impact opportunities such as the East Coast Basin. With
TAG's continued success in the Taranaki Basin - and our successful
commercialization of these discoveries - we continue to deliver on the
first part of this plan. Drilling Ngapaeruru-1 is another step in
delivering on our business plan: pursuing these higher risk, higher
impact exploration wells from a very strong financial position."

Live oil recovered from shallow wells drilled by TAG in 2011, as well as
oil sampled from seeps in the East Coast Basin, confirm that the source
of the high-quality oil was generated from the Waipawa Black Shale and
Whangai formations. Extensive geotechnical work on TAG's East Coast
acreage, including proprietary 2D and 3D seismic, have confirmed that
the source rock parameters in TAG's East Coast Basin play compare
favorably to commercial unconventional plays throughout the world.

In addition, TAG's East Coast Basin play has particular features that
provide encouragement in regard to prospectivity of this unconventional
exploration play, including:

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2. 
   The source rocks are up to 600 meters thick in some areas;
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. 
   The source rocks are naturally fractured;
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. 
   The oil confirmed as coming from the source rocks, is 50 degree API;
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. 
   The East Coast Basin is over-pressured at depth, confirming a competent
   seal situated above the source rocks.
   
   
   

These parameters were also considered in an independent report that
estimated potential undiscovered oil initially-in-place amounting to 14
billion barrels, calculated on just 20% of TAG's East Coast Basin
acreage that is believed to be prospective for unconventional
discovery. TAG Oil was the first company to identify the unconventional
play in the East Coast Basin, and therefore selected the acreage where
the Company believed it to be the most prospective for unconventional
exploration. TAG's acreage is where both the Waipawa Black Shale and
Whangai source rocks are the most widespread, thickly developed, and
reachable at depths that offer the best chance for commercial
feasibility.

Mr. Johnson continued: "Given this very significant potential, we're
pleased to have 100% control over the project, with a substantial
portion of exploration costs to date funded by our previous joint
venture partner. While their shift in corporate strategy resulted in a
refocusing of their international holdings, our work together validated
and confirmed the major exploration potential of these lands. As a
result, Ngapaeruru-1 is the first of several exploration wells directly
testing these unconventional targets."

For further information on TAG's unconventional source rock targets
please visit: http://www.tagoil.com/unconventional-oil.asp.

TAG Oil COO Drew Cadenhead commented, "Since this is the first well
directly targeting the Waipawa Black Shale and Whangai source rocks in
the East Coast Basin, the Company has planned operations to obtain the
maximum amount of data to guide future exploration activities. This
includes specialized electric log data and other unconventional source
rock analysis data. TAG has been working up to this for about six
years, and we're excited to finally be here. While we know drilling
conditions can be tricky in this over-pressured Basin, our drilling
department is well prepared to complete these operations safely and
with minimal impact to the environment."

TAG is using Webster Drilling's Nova #1 Drilling Rig, which was
mobilized from the Company's Sidewinder gas and oil field in the
Taranaki Basin, after drilling another successful step-out well,
Sidewinder-A7, which will soon be production tested.

TAG Oil Ltd.

TAG Oil Ltd. http://www.tagoil.com/) is a Canadian-based production and exploration company with operations
focused exclusively in New Zealand. With 100% ownership over all its
core assets, including extensive oil and gas production infrastructure,
TAG is enjoying substantial oil and gas production and reserve growth
through development of several light oil and gas discoveries. TAG is
also actively drilling high-impact exploration prospects identified
across more than 2,984,171 net acres of land in New Zealand.

In the East Coast Basin, TAG will explore and potentially develop the
major unconventional resource potential believed to exist in the tight
oil source-rock formations that are widespread over the Company's
acreage. These oil-rich and naturally fractured formations have many
similarities to North America's Bakken source-rock formation in the
successful Williston Basin.

Important Information:

It is equally likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will
be greater or less than the best estimate.

Undiscovered Oil Initially-In-Place (equivalent to undiscovered
resources) is that quantity of petroleum that is estimated, on a given
date, to be contained in accumulations yet to be discovered. There is
no certainty that any portion of the undiscovered resources will be
discovered or that, if discovered, it will be economically viable or
technically feasible to produce.

Exploration for hydrocarbons is a speculative venture necessarily
involving substantial risk. TAG's future success in exploiting and
increasing its current reserve base will depend on its ability to
develop its current properties and on its ability to discover and
acquire properties or prospects that are capable of commercial
production. However, there is no assurance that TAG's future
exploration and development efforts will result in the discovery or
development of additional commercial accumulations of oil and natural
gas. In addition, even if further hydrocarbons are discovered, the
costs of extracting and delivering the hydrocarbons to market and
variations in the market price may render uneconomic any discovered
deposit.  Geological conditions are variable and unpredictable. Even if
production is commenced from a well, the quantity of hydrocarbons
produced inevitably will decline over time, and production may be
adversely affected or may have to be terminated altogether if TAG
encounters unforeseen geological conditions. TAG is subject to
uncertainties related to the proximity of any reserves that it may
discover to pipelines and processing facilities. It expects that its
operational costs will increase proportionally to the remoteness of,
and any restrictions on access to, the properties on which any such
reserves may be found. Adverse climatic conditions at such properties
may also hinder TAG's ability to carry on exploration or production
activities continuously throughout any given year.

The significant positive factors that are relevant to the resource
estimate are:

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  Proven production in close proximity;
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  Proven commercial quality reservoirs in close proximity; and
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  Oil and gas shows while drilling wells nearby.
  
• 
  
  

The significant negative factors that are relevant to the resource
estimate are:

• 
  
  
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  Tectonically complex geology could compromise seal potential; and
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  Seismic attribute mapping in the two, deep, liquids'-rich gas plays can
  be indicative but not certain in identifying proven resource.
  
• 
  
  

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts
are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and
uncertainty affecting the business of TAG. Such statements can be
generally, but not always, identified by words such as "expects",
"plans", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "forecasts",
"schedules", "prepares", "potential" and similar expressions, or that
events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur.
All estimates and statements that describe the Company's objectives,
goals, production rates, optimization, infrastructure capacity and or
future plans with respect to the drilling in the East Coast Basin
forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and
necessarily involve risks and uncertainties including, without
limitation: risks associated with oil and gas exploration, development,
exploitation and production, geological risks, marketing and
transportation, the risk associated with estimating undiscovered
original initially-in-place described above, availability of adequate
funding, volatility of commodity prices, imprecision of reserve
estimates, environmental risks, competition from other producers, and
changes in the regulatory and taxation environment. Actual results may
vary materially from the information provided in this release, and
there is no representation by TAG Oil that the actual results realized
in the future will be the same in whole or in part as those presented
herein.

Other factors that could cause actual results to differ from those
contained in the forward-looking statements are also set forth in
filings that TAG and its independent evaluator have made, including
TAG's most recently filed reports in Canada under National Instrument
51-101, which can be found under TAG's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

TAG undertakes no obligation, except as otherwise required by law, to
update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's
beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors change.

SOURCE TAG Oil Ltd.