Universal Awarded Additional Blocks in Offshore Namibia

    
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CALGARY, May 17 /CNW/ - Universal Power Corp. ("Universal" or the "Company") announced today that it has been awarded a Petroleum Exploration Licence ("PEL") for the offshore Namibian blocks 2813A, 2814B, and 2914A by the Ministry of Mines and Energy ("MME") of the Republic of Namibia. Universal will have a 40% working interest in the blocks; HRT O&G Exploração e Produção de Petróleo Ltd. ("HRT O&G") will have a 40% working interest, and Acarus Investments (Proprietary) Ltd., will have a 20% participating interest. The designated operator of the blocks is HRT O&G.

"This award adds three strategically important blocks to our portfolio and is being done in partnership with HRT O&G, the world's premier experts along the offshore South Atlantic margins," said Mr. Gabriel Ollivier, President and CEO of Universal. "Given the extensive field work we have conducted in assessing the regional and lease-specific prospectivity of the Orange basin, securing blocks 2813A, 2814B, and 2914A is key to our regional land position, which now stands at over 42,000 square kilometers of contiguous acreage."

Mr. Duane Parnham, Universal's Chairman said, "These blocks add to our growing asset base with an agreement that enables us to partner with the company that predicted some of the world's largest pre-salt oil discoveries. HRT O&G's experience and expertise in techniques that maximize the probabilities of success materially adds to the likelihood that we will succeed in finding Namibia's large offshore oil pools. In addition to mitigating exploration risk, Universal's partnership with HRT O&G will significantly reduce our net risked capital exposure by sharing costs associated with the data acquisition and scientific work that will precede the drilling of any wells. HRT O&G also brings strategic relationships with many of the world's major oil and gas companies that could lead to further partnering opportunities."

About Blocks 2813A, 2814B, and 2914A

The blocks collectively span an area of 15,382 square kilometers (1,538,200 hectares, or 3,789,094 acres). The three blocks are contiguous, and are positioned immediately west and diagonally southwest of the large Kudu gas discovery, located in the southern portion of the Namibian offshore leases in what is geologically known as the Orange basin. In addition, the three blocks link to Universal's 90%-owned 2713A and 2713B blocks to the north, and 90%-owned 2815 to the east.

The PEL for blocks 2813A, 2814B, and 2914A has three phases, with the agreement effective May 14, 2010. Phase 1 spans four years, with work program commitments focused on assembly, interpretation, and mapping of existing 2D and 3D seismic data followed by new acquisition of seismic data. Additional techniques may also be employed that will add to detailed satellite oil slick detection, geotechnical, and geochemical field work that has already been done by or on behalf of Universal in the Orange basin. The estimated gross cost of the first four-year phase is US$8,500,000. Phases 2 and 3 are each renewable for a two year period, and carry a commitment to drill one well during each phase.

About HRT O&G

HRT O&G is an oil and gas company based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HRT Participações em Petróleo S.A. ("HRTP"). The HRT O&G team is led by Dr. Marcio Mello, who founded HRT Petroleum in 2004 after a very successful 24-year career at Petrobras, which included a 17-year span running the technical centre of excellence of Petrobras-CEGEQ. From 2004 until mid-2009, Dr. Marcio Mello was the CEO of HRT Petroleum, which was strictly a geologic consultancy company with the biggest geoscientific lab in the southern hemisphere. Over the years, the HRT team has gained global recognition for their expertise in building fully-integrated 3-D compositional petroleum system basin models, putting full use of investigative techniques based on geochemistry, biostratigraphy, seismic interpretation, structural geology, oceanography, and biology, in their efforts to reduce exploration risk. The HRT team is credited, among their many accomplishments, with predicting hydrocarbon presence in the pre-salt of Brazil's Santos basin, which led to the giant Carioca and Tupi oil discoveries. The services offered by HRT Petroleum continue to exist through Integrated Petroleum Expertise Co. ("IPEX"), which is now another wholly-owned subsidiary of HRTP. Universal has a Services Agreement with IPEX on blocks 2713A and 2815 and expects the work contained in the agreement to be completed in June, 2010.

About Universal Power Corp.

Universal Power Corp. is an oil and gas company focused on building a portfolio of high impact exploration targets in offshore Namibia, Africa. The Company has more than 51,000 gross square kilometers of Namibian offshore concessions along the prolific South Atlantic Margin. The Company has a newly expanded managerial and technical team supported by strong Namibian partnerships, and is thus well positioned to make a significant contribution to the exploration and development of Namibia's offshore oil and gas concessions.

    
    On Behalf of the Board of Directors
    of Universal Power Corp.

    Duane Parnham
    Chairman
    

Forward Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of Universal Power Corp. with respect to its performance, business and future events. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, those relating to changes in the market, potential downturns in economic conditions, foreign exchange fluctuations, changes in business strategy, regulatory requirements, demand for our resources, competition and dependence on key personnel. These risks, as well as others, could cause actual results and events to vary significantly. Universal Power Corp. does not undertake any obligations to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture 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: visit our website at www.universalpowercorp.com, Sedar Profile No. 00016276; CONTACT INFORMATION: David Feick, Investor Relations, Telephone: [phone], Email: [email protected]; Heidi Christensen Brown, Investor Relations, Telephone: [phone], Email: [email protected]