BNK Petroleum completes primary Polish Baltic Basin acreage acquisitions

CALGARY, March 20 /CNW/ - BNK Petroleum Inc. ("BNK" or the "Company") (TSX: BKX) announces on behalf of one of its European subsidiary's, Indiana Investments Sp. z o.o. that it has been awarded three oil and gas concessions in the Baltic Basin of Poland by the Ministry of Environment. The three concessions, Darlowo, Bytow and Trzebielino, were applied for in 2009 and total approximately 880,000 acres net to BNK. The concessions are directly adjacent to BNK's Slawno and Slupsk concessions where BNK intends to drill its first well in late second or early third quarter of this year. This first well is part of the farm out whereby BNK is carried for all but 6.67% of the first $25 million spent on the project. The three new concessions bring BNK's acreage holdings in Europe to approximately 3 million gross acres and 2.65 million net acres. The Company continues to await the awarding of previously submitted applications and is continuing to apply for new concessions in other European basins.

Certain minimum requirements must be fulfilled by BNK to retain its interest in these latest concessions. The more significant minimum requirements consist of conducting geological and geophysical work and the spudding of a well within 18 months of the concession award date. A second well on each concession is required to be completed by March 2013.

About BNK Petroleum Inc.

BNK Petroleum Inc. is a U.S. based international oil and gas exploration and production company focused on finding and exploiting large, predominately unconventional oil and gas resource plays. The Company holds and operates shale gas wells in the United States. Additionally the Company is utilizing its technical and operational expertise to identify and acquire unconventional projects outside of North America. The Company's shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol BKX.

Caution Regarding Forward-looking Information

This document contains forward looking information regarding the Company's plans and timing in respect of drilling the initial wells on concessions in Poland and its intention to acquire additional concessions. Forward looking information is based on plans and estimates of management at the date the information is provided and certain assumptions (including that the required capital and approvals will be available when required) and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause plans and estimates to change materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Factors that could cause the forward-looking information in this news release to change or to be inaccurate include, but are not limited to: the risks associated with the oil and gas industry and exploratory activities generally, BNK's ability to identify suitable drilling locations (e.g., operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures); the risk associated with equipment procurement and equipment failure, risks related to international operations and doing business in foreign jurisdictions, the risk of commodity price and foreign exchange rate fluctuations, risks related to future royalty rate changes and risks and uncertainties associated with securing and maintaining necessary regulatory approvals

NEITHER THE TSX EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE

For further information: Wolf Regener, President and Chief Executive Officer, [phone], Email: [email protected], Website: www.bnkpetroleum.com