Forbes Energy Services Reports Selected Operating Data for April 2011

ALICE, Texas, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Forbes Energy Services Ltd. (TSX: FRB) today announced its rig and trucking hours for the month of April 2011.

John Crisp, Forbes Energy Services' President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We followed up an outstanding March with a very strong April.  Truck hours set another new record in spite of the shorter month as Eagle Ford activity continues to increase.  Although rig hours per day were essentially flat with the prior month, the general trajectory for 2011 remains positive.  Strengthening customer demand has allowed us to continue to activate rigs that were stacked during the downturn, with planned activation of three more rigs by the end of May, including another twenty four hour rig.

"Now that the seasonal weather issues are generally behind us, we expect continued acceleration of U.S. oil field activity.  Continued strength in oil prices should drive increasing demand for services in our core South and West Texas markets.  

"The eleven rigs we currently operate in Mexico are at full capacity.  As mentioned on our prior earnings call, now that we have our contract extension in place with Pemex, we anticipate adding three additional rigs to service the demand.  Two of these should be operational in Mexico by the end of May or first part of June."

U.S. rigs generally work all weekdays except holidays.  Mexico rigs generally work every day except holidays.  Trucks generally operate every day except Sundays and holidays.  Rig and truck hours represent actual hours billed to customers.

Forbes Energy Services cautions that several factors other than those discussed above may impact the Company's operating results and that a particular trend regarding the factors above may or may not be indicative of the Company's current or future financial performance.

Forbes Energy Services Ltd. is an independent oilfield services contractor that provides a broad range of drilling-related and production-related services to oil and natural gas companies, primarily onshore in Texas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Mexico.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as contemplated by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, in which the Company discusses factors it believes may affect its performance in the future. The accuracy of the Company's assumptions, expectations, beliefs and projections depend on events or conditions that change over time and are thus susceptible to change based on actual experience, new developments and known and unknown risks. The Company gives no assurance that the forward-looking statements will prove to be correct and does not undertake any duty to update them. The Company's actual future results might differ from the forward-looking statements made in this press release for a variety of reasons, which include: supply and demand for oilfield services and the level of oil and natural gas prices; the continued uncertainty in the global financial markets and its effect on domestic spending in the oil and natural gas industry; the Company's ability to maintain or improve pricing on its core services; the potential for excess capacity in the industry; competition and the ability to obtain additional cash resources through a financing or other permitted transaction. Should one or more of the foregoing risks or uncertainties materialize, or should the Company's underlying assumptions prove incorrect, the Company's actual results may vary materially from those anticipated in its forward-looking statements, and the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.  Additional factors that you should consider are set forth in detail in the Risk Factors section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 (the "Form 10-K") as well as other filings the Company has made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Forbes Energy Services Ltd.