Minister Grants Petroleum Exploration License EL14/2009

LEAWOOD, Kan., May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Empire Energy Corporation International (Empire) (OTC Bulletin Board: EEGCE) with its wholly owned subsidiary, Great South Land Minerals Ltd. (GSLM) announced on 17th May 2010 that the Honorable Bryan Green, Minister for Energy and Resources has today signed the documents for its Tasmania Basin exploration license EL14/2009, which means the license is now granted and in full effect.

Empire and GSLM CEO Malcolm Bendall said, "This is excellent news for Empire.  We want to thank the Minister for signing the exploration license to allow us to continue our exploration and development work.  We look forward to working with the Minister to create the petroleum industry in Tasmania.  To further this exploration work, Empire has signed a conditional contract with GEFCO Inc. of Enid, Oklahoma (http://www.gefco.com/drillingrigs.htm) for a state-of-the-art, truck mounted, GEFCO SS-1100 drilling rig, with a capability to drill both vertically and horizontally to 15,000 feet (4572m).  A GEFCO 185 rig, previously bought by Empire for $1.3 million, shipped to Tasmania and converted to Australian specifications, has since successfully drilled a well to 7874 feet (2400m) and a total of 28 miles (45km) of drill holes, on mainland Australia.  Empire is now poised to drill our two main domes at Bellevue and Thunderbolt, which independent consultants have estimated could contain 447 million barrels of oil. This undiscovered prospective resource has been valued at $2.2 billion dollars by independent experts who assumed a value discounted to $5 a barrel." Mr. Bendall continued, "At today's oil price of $70 per barrel this would potentially be a gross in-ground value of $31 billion."

GEFCO Inc. Vice President of international sales Art Kliewer said, "We are delighted with Empire's conditional contract for purchase of a second GEFCO rig and we wish Empire and GSLM every success with their Tasmania Basin drilling program."

Mr. Bendall is currently in Houston, Texas where he is in discussions concerning the deployment of proprietary technologies that Empire has access to, relevant to stopping and cleaning-up subsea oil leakages. Whilst in Houston, Mr. Bendall will be furthering discussions with interested equity investors and potential joint venture partners. Mr. Bendall said, "We have been working diligently towards completing Empire's and GSLM's audited accounts and the company and its officers and its contractors will be striving to file the 10K soon. We are now in a powerful commercial position as the company now has a both a license and an independent valuation."

Empire Energy Corporation is an international oil and gas exploration company, focusing on developing assets in one of the world's last virgin basins and to become a leading low-cost finder of hydrocarbons. The Company is currently operating in Tasmania's central and northern basins.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on our current expectations about our company and our industry. You can identify these forward-looking statements when you see us using the words such as "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believes," "plans" and other similar expressions. These forward- looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of our ability to complete required financings and other preconditions to the completion of the transactions described herein and Empire's ability to successfully acquire reserves and produce its resources among other issues. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or other events occur in the future. We caution you not to place undue reliance on those statements. For a more detailed discussion of risks and other factors related to Empire Energy Corporation International, please refer to 10-K and 10-Q reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Empire Energy Corporation International