TAG Oil closes $46 million bought deal offering

/NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/

VANCOUVER, May 15, 2012 /CNW/ - TAG Oil Ltd. (the "Company" or "TAG") (TSX: TAO and OTCQX: TAOIF) is pleased to announce that it has closed the previously announced bought deal offering of common shares at a price of $10.45 per common share for gross proceeds of $46,345,750 (the "Offering").  The Company filed a final short form prospectus in each of the provinces of Canada except Québec on May 7, 2012.  Pursuant to an underwriting agreement dated April 27, 2012 (the "Underwriting Agreement"), a syndicate of underwriters led by Dundee Securities Ltd. and including Casimir Capital Ltd., Cormark Securities Inc., GMP Securities L.P., Mackie Research Capital Corporation and M Partners Inc. (collectively, the "Underwriters"), agreed to purchase on a bought deal basis 4,170,000 common shares (the "Common Shares") of the Company at a price of $10.45 per Common Share.  Pursuant to the terms of the Underwriting Agreement, the Company granted the Underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 615,000 Common Shares at a price of $10.45 per Common Share, exercisable in whole or in part at any time prior to 30 days after the closing date (the "Over-Allotment Option").  On May 11, 2012, Dundee Securities Ltd., on its own behalf and on behalf of the Underwriters, delivered notice to the Company that the Underwriters were electing to partially exercise the Over-Allotment Option to purchase an additional 265,000 Common Shares.

After deducting Underwriters' fees, the net proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund additional drilling commitments at the Company's Cheal, Sidewinder and Kaheru permits, to identify and pursue new business opportunities including future land acquisitions in the Taranaki Basin and for general working capital purposes.

This press release is not an offer or a solicitation of an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The Common Shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration.

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% control over all its core assets, including oil and gas production infrastructure, TAG is anticipating 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 1,300 sections of land in the onshore Taranaki and East Coast Basins of New Zealand's North Island.

In the East Coast Basin, TAG has entered into a farm-out agreement with Apache Corporation to explore and potentially develop the major unconventional resource potential estimated 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:

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 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 financing, use of proceeds of the financing, funding additional drilling commitments, increasing the Company's land position in the Taranaki Basin and plans to pursue new opportunities are forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and necessarily involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may vary materially from the information provided in this release, and there is no representation by TAG 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.

Dan Brown or Garth Johnson
TAG Oil Ltd., 1-604-682-6496