Ivanhoe Energy drilling team mobilized on second planned test well in Mongolia

CALGARY, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - David Dyck, President and Chief Operating Officer of Ivanhoe Energy Inc. (TSX: IE) (NASDAQ: IVAN), and Gerald Moench, President of Ivanhoe's wholly-owned subsidiary Sunwing Energy Ltd., announced today that Ivanhoe's drilling team has begun moving the drilling rig to the site of the second exploration well in east-central Mongolia.

"Our drilling program was designed to advance our knowledge of Mongolia's Nyalga Basin, a highly prospective area with numerous potential structures that could be tested by drilling," Mr. Dyck said. "These initial wells are testing two different structures with diverse seismic characteristics."

Mr. Dyck said testing has been completed at the first exploration well, N16-1E-1A, which was drilled to a depth of 2,003 metres. The first well has been plugged and abandoned and the rig disassembled for mobilization.

"While the testing of our first well did not encounter oil shows in the reservoir, it has provided vital information that we are combining with our seismic data to help guide our continuing drilling program."

The second well is on an eight-square-kilometre structure approximately 12 kilometres from the first well. Drilling of the second well is expected to begin by the end of this month toward a target depth of approximately 2,500 metres.

"Mongolia in general, and the Nyalga Basin in particular, is in the early days of oil exploration, requiring a great deal of study to understand its full potential. We remain optimistic that our exploration efforts will enable the discovery of oil resources at our Mongolian project," Mr. Dyck added.

Sunwing Energy Ltd. is party to a Production-Sharing Contract with the Mongolian Government for Block XVI, a 12,679-square-kilometre area that encompasses the Nyalga Basin and is adjacent to the north-south Trans-Mongolian Railway.

Ivanhoe Energy is an independent international heavy oil development and production company focused on pursuing long-term growth in its reserves and production using advanced technologies, including its proprietary heavy oil upgrading process (HTL^TM). Core operations are in Canada, United States, Ecuador, China and Mongolia, with business development opportunities worldwide. Ivanhoe Energy trades on The Toronto Stock Exchange with the symbol IE and on the NASDAQ Capital Market with the ticker symbol IVAN.

For more information about Ivanhoe Energy Inc. please visit www.ivanhoeenergy.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This document includes forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the continued advancement of Ivanhoe Energy's projects, the potential for successful exploration and development drilling, statements relating to establishing resources and other statements which are not historical facts. When used in this document, the words such as "could," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "potential," "should," and similar expressions relating to matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements.  Although Ivanhoe Energy believes that its expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include the potential that the Company's projects will experience technological and mechanical problems, geological conditions in reservoirs may not result in commercial levels of oil and gas production, the availability of drilling rigs and other support services, the risk associated with doing business in foreign countries including the risk that legislative changes could adversely affect the commercial viability of carrying on business in those countries, environmental risks, changes in product prices, our ability to raise capital as and when required, competition and other risks disclosed in Ivanhoe Energy's 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR and the Canadian Securities Commissions on SEDAR.

SOURCE Ivanhoe Energy Inc.

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