Triangle Petroleum Reports Cash Position of $17MM for Third Quarter

Triangle Petroleum Corp.

Triangle Petroleum Corporation has reported its financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year ended January 31, 2009. Unless otherwise noted, all references to "$" are to U.S. dollars. All references to "Cndn$" are to Canadian dollars (Cndn$1.00=US$0.80).

Financial Summary

The Company's cash and cash equivalents totaled $17.3 million at October 31, 2008 compared to $23.5 million at July 2008. During the third quarter of fiscal 2008, cash used for exploration was $2.2 million mainly relating to drilling the first three wells in the second phase of the Windsor Basin project that began late in the second quarter of fiscal 2009, cash used in operating activities was $0.7 million mainly relating to general and administrative expense, and unrealized foreign exchange changes in cash was $2.8 million. Also subsequent to the quarter end, the Company sold a portion of its non-core Fayetteville Shale acreage for $0.3 million.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2009, the Company incurred a net loss of $16.2 million ($0.28 net loss per diluted share) compared with a net loss of $15.3 million ($0.44 net loss per diluted share) for the same nine month period in fiscal 2008. The net loss for the first nine months of fiscal 2009 includes an $8.0 million oil and gas impairment charge related to the Fayetteville land base ($8.5 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2008), $3.1 million in general and administrative expense ($5.3 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2008) and $2.4 million in foreign exchange losses ($0.6 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2008). Revenue for the nine months ended October 31, 2008 totaled $0.3 million compared with $0.4 million in the same nine month period ending October 31, 2007. The Company sold its interest in two Barnett Shale wells in the second quarter of this fiscal year which resulted in lower production and revenue.

During the third quarter of fiscal 2008, the Company incurred an $8.0 million oil and gas impairment charge related to its Fayetteville land base, which the Company decided to sell in March 2008 as a result of Triangle's shift in focus from US to Canada. This impairment is due to reduced interest in land sales and reduced gas prices at October 31, 2008 attributable to the slowdown in the economy. Furthermore, the Company incurred a $2.4 million unrealized foreign exchange loss in the third quarter of fiscal 2008. This loss is due to the Company holding the majority of its cash in Cndn dollars, to fund its Cndn dollar based Maritimes shale projects, and the Cndn dollar weakened during the quarter against the US dollar from US$0.98/Cndn dollar to US$0.83/Cndn dollar.

For the third quarter of fiscal 2009, the Company incurred a net loss of $12.0 million ($0.18 net loss per diluted share) compared to a net loss of $6.0 million ($0.16 net loss per diluted share) for the third quarter of fiscal 2008. The increase in the loss in the third quarter of fiscal 2009 was primarily due to the $8.0 million oil and gas property impairment charge related to the Fayetteville land base compared with a $4.6 million oil and gas property impairment charge in the third quarter of fiscal 2008. Also, higher unrealized foreign exchange losses of $2.4 million contributed to the increase in the loss. Stock-based compensation expense, a component of general and administrative expenses, decreased $0.8 million compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2008. Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 totaled $0.1 million compared with $0.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2008.

Triangle recently announced that its common shares commenced trading on the TSX Venture Exchange on December 5, 2008 under the symbol "TPE". Triangle's shares will continue to trade in the United States on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "TPLM". In connection with its application for listing on the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company filed a non-offering prospectus, which is available on SEDAR under the Company's profile.

Mark G. Gustafson, Triangle's Chairman, President and CEO, commented, "We are focusing our financial and human resources on our Maritimes shale gas project in Nova Scotia, our core area of operations. With our current cash position of $17 million, we are determined to move forward with our exploration program. We will continue to search for ways to enhance our financial position through appropriate fundings and continued discussions with potential joint venture partners."
 


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