Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. to Commence Physical Supply Operations in Cape Verde

PIRAEUS, Greece, Dec. 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. (NYSE: ANW) today announced it plans to commence physical supply operations in Cape Verde, an archipelago of 10 islands located off the coast of Western Africa, upon entering into a strategic co-operation with Enacol, a local energy company based in Cape Verde.

Under the terms of the agreement, Aegean Marine will utilize its modern delivery fleet to provide bunkering services from the port of Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente and off-shore. Enacol will be responsible for providing storage for quality fuel oils and distillates to meet the needs of all major sectors within the international shipping industry. The port of Mindelo serves as a strategic commercial hub that lies along major cross-Atlantic shipping routes as well as important trade routes between Europe and the Far East via the Cape of Good Hope. Aegean Marine expects to initially deploy one double-hull bunkering tanker to Cape Verde and commence operations by the end of the first quarter of 2011.

E. Nikolas Tavlarios, President, commented, "We are pleased to co-operate with Enacol and once again expand our global reach by establishing a strategic presence in Cape Verde. The port of Mindelo provides exciting opportunities for our Company as we remain focused on profitably increasing sales volumes. By providing an integrated marine fuel solution throughout this market, which connects critical trade routes between North and South America, Africa and Europe, we expect to increase fleet utilization and expand our future earnings potential. Importantly, based on our co-operation with Cape Verde's leading energy company, we will not incur any incremental capital expenditures by launching operations in this new and attractive market. We also expect to achieve operational efficiencies with our existing service centers located in Ghana and Las Palmas."

Mr. Tavlarios added, "Including Cape Verde, Aegean Marine will serve 17 markets covering more than 40 ports worldwide. As we continue to expand our geographical portfolio and strengthen our industry leadership for the global supply of marine fuel, we intend to draw upon our considerable financial flexibility and take advantage of additional consolidation opportunities that create long-term value for the Company and its shareholders."

About Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc.

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. is an international marine fuel logistics company that markets and physically supplies refined marine fuel and lubricants to ships in port and at sea. The Company procures product from various sources (such as refineries, oil producers, and traders) and resells it to a diverse group of customers across all major commercial shipping sectors and leading cruise lines. Currently, Aegean has a global presence in more than 16 markets, including Vancouver, Montreal, Mexico, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, West Africa, Gibraltar, U.K., Northern Europe, Piraeus, Patras, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Morocco, the Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam (ARA) region, and Las Palmas, and plans to commence operations in Cape Verde during the first quarter of 2011.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business.  Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.

The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "forecast," "plan," "potential," "may," "should," "expect" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.

In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include our ability to manage growth, our ability to maintain our business in light of our proposed business and location expansion, our ability to obtain double hull secondhand bunkering tankers, the outcome of legal, tax or regulatory proceedings to which we may become a party, adverse conditions in the shipping or the marine fuel supply industries, our ability to retain our key suppliers and key customers, material disruptions in the availability or supply of crude oil or refined petroleum products, changes in the market price of petroleum, including the volatility of spot pricing, increased levels of competition, compliance or lack of compliance with various environmental and other applicable laws and regulations, our ability to collect accounts receivable, changes in the political, economic or regulatory conditions in the markets in which we operate, and the world in general, our failure to hedge certain financial risks associated with our business, our ability to maintain our current tax treatments and our failure to comply with restrictions in our credit agreements and other factors.  Please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties.

SOURCE Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc.