PRESS RELEASE

Valiant Petroleum plc ("Valiant" or "the Company")

28 May 2008

Field Development Approval for Don South West and West Don and Syndication of Bank Facilities

Valiant Petroleum plc is pleased to announce that the Company and its joint venture partners have received approval of the Field Development Plan ("FDP") for the Don Southwest and West Don fields (together the "Don Fields") from the UK Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform ("BERR").  Valiant has a 40% interest in Don South West field and a 17.275% interest in the West Don field.

The Don Fields will be jointly developed using the floating production vessel "Northern Producer" with production exported initially via offshore tanker loading, with a permanent pipeline export route completed later in 2009. Development drilling is expected to commence with the semi submersible drilling unit "John Shaw" in the third quarter of 2008. With over 50 million barrels of gross recoverable reserves, peak production rates of the combined Don Fields is expected to reach 50,000 barrels of oil per day and is due to come on stream in the first half of 2009.  

Petrofac Energy Developments Limited (operator of both fields) will now move into the project execution phase following substantial planning carried out on the Don Fields to-date. 

In addition Valiant is pleased to announce that Bank of Scotland has completed syndication of the US$200m Senior Debt Facility to a number of International Banks. This facility was put in place to part finance Valiant's share of the Don Field Developments.

Valiant's Chief Executive, Peter Buchanan commented

"We are delighted to receive FDP approval for the Don Fields so soon after our AIM admission. The development is one of the largest stand-alone developments in the UK North Sea this year and will give Valiant its first oil production. Approval of the development plan for the Don Fields is an important milestone towards Valiant becoming a full-cycle exploration and production company.

We are also pleased to welcome the new banking group which will form the basis of our banking relationships going forward" 

In accordance with the AIM Rules, the information in this announcement has been reviewed and signed off by Brian Elliot, Operations Director, who has over 20 years relevant experience within the sector.

For further information, please contact:

Notes to the Editors

1. The Don South West field is located in Block 211/18a (license P.236) and the West Don field is a unitized field that straddles Blocks 211/13b and 211/18a (licenses P.1200 and P.236, respectively) of the northern North Sea. The Don Fields are located approximately 150 km northeast of the Shetland Islands in a water depth of approximately 500ft. The operator for the Don Fields is Petrofac Energy Developments Limited. 

2. According to the competent person's report prepared by RPS Energy for Valiant's AIM Admission on 13 March 2008, Don South West has proved and probable oil reserves of 33.7 mmbstb (13.5 net to Vailiant) and West Don has proved and probable oil reserves of 23.8 mmstb (4.1 net to Valiant).

3. The Don Fields will be jointly developed using the Northern Producer floating production facility. The Northern Producer is a former drilling unit converted for production operations, which operated until recently on the UKCS Galley oil field. It has been secured for field life under a lease arrangement, with tariffs based on oil throughput and prevailing Brent oil prices.

4. The Transocean "John Shaw" semi submersible drilling unit has been contracted to drill the initial development wells on both fields. Development drilling is expected to commence in the third quarter of 2008 and be completed in the first quarter 2009.

5. First oil is targeted for the first half of 2009. Oil export from the Northern Producer will initially be by offshore tanker loading for approximately six months and then switch to pipeline export via a subsea tie-back to the Thistle platform and the Brent pipeline system.

6. For more information please visit www.valiant-petroleum.com/assets 

Joint venture partners in the Don Fields are as follows:

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