Ivanhoe Energy spuds first exploration well in Mongolia

CALGARY, Aug. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -  David Dyck, President and Chief Operating Officer of Ivanhoe Energy Inc. (TSX: IE) (NASDAQ: IVAN), and Gerald Moench, President of Sunwing Energy Ltd., announced today that N16-1E-1A,  Sunwing's first exploration well on its Nyalga Block XVI  in Mongolia, spudded Saturday, August 13. As of today, the well has been drilled to 437m and surface casing has been run and cemented.

"This is an important step in our exploration program in Mongolia," said David Dyck. "Given the results of our 2D seismic study, we are optimistic of the potential to discover oil resources in Mongolia."

The well is located on a structure approximately 32 km² in size and will be drilled to a total depth of approximately 2500m. The well is being drilled by the Daqing Exploration Company and drilling of the well will take approximately 30 days, with completion and testing to be carried out as required.  The Company intends to drill two wells on two separate structures, with the option to drill up to three additional wells in this initial exploratory program.

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 concerning the potential benefits of Ivanhoe Energy's heavy oil upgrading technology, the potential for commercialization and future application of the heavy oil upgrading technology and other technologies, statements relating to the continued advancement of Ivanhoe Energy's projects, the potential for successful exploration and development drilling, dependence on new product development and associated costs, statements relating to anticipated capital expenditures, the necessity to seek additional funding, statements relating to increases in production 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, new product development will not proceed as planned, the HTL technology to upgrade bitumen and heavy oil may not be commercially viable, geological conditions in reservoirs may not result in commercial levels of oil and gas production, the availability of drilling rigs and other support services, uncertainties about the estimates of reserves, the risk associated with doing business in foreign 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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