Empire $9M Rights Offering Approved by SEC, Begins February 16, 2010

LEAWOOD, Kan., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --  Empire Energy Corporation International (Empire)(OTC Bulletin Board: EEGC) announced the beginning of the $9 million Rights Offering on February 16, 2010.  The Securities and Exchange Commission allowed the Registration to become effective February 12, 2010.  Mailing of the rights certificates, and the prospectus which will accompany the distribution of the rights certificates by Interwest Transfer Company, Inc, to all of Empire's shareholders of record as of December 18, 2008 began on Saturday, February 13, 2010.  The offering period will close March 18, 2010.

Shareholders of record December 18, 2008 will receive a Rights Certificate for the number of shares they are entitled to acquire based on one (1) share for each two (2) shares owned on the record date.  In other words, if 200 shares of EEGC common stock were owned on December 18, 2008, the certificate will reflect a right to acquire 100 new shares at a purchase price of US$.07 per share.  Shareholders who would like to exercise their rights to purchase shares provided for in the certificate must fill out the Subscription Certificate included in the mailing and deliver the completed form along with the subscription price to our transfer agent by the end of the subscription period on March 18, 2010.  

Additionally, assuming all of the rights holders do not fully exercise their privilege to acquire shares, rights holders that did exercise all of their rights will be permitted to participate in the follow-on oversubscription privilege to acquire additional shares at the US$.07 price.  Rights holders that qualify for the oversubscription privilege will be notified of the number of shares available under that privilege at the close of the initial period March 18, 2010 and will need to provide an additional subscription form and payment during an additional oversubscription period.

The Tasmanian State Government is currently in a 'caretaker period', however, executive government continues to operate and Ministers remain in authority. The Minister's statutory responsibilities, especially those with time limits, are not affected except to the extent that any decision that is within the discretion of the Minister must be considered in the context of the caretaker conventions. Otherwise the normal work of the State Service including operational and other activities continues without interruption.

This includes the Minister making a final decision for the Exploration License 14/2009 application.

RPS Evaluation

As advised previously, Empire has received an independent expert valuation for the Bellevue and Thunderbolt Prospects. RPS Energy a global leader in Oil and Gas valuations has completed an independent study focusing on Empire's Bellevue and Thunderbolt prospects. The base case EMV (Expected Monetary Value) for Bellevue and Thunderbolt Prospects is a positive USD $ 50.9 million. The EMV is the sum of the risked NPVs for all outcomes of success and failure. RPS has valued the unrisked NPV10 of the Bellevue Prospect at USD $ 2.97 billion and the Thunderbolt Prospect at USD $ 0.99 billion. This is very positive for Empire Energy and gives the company added confidence to proceed with drilling.  Empire CEO Malcolm Bendall  commented that the report was very good news indeed and confirms the long held view by Empire that Bellevue and Thunderbolt are prime locations representing great opportunities in the search for commercial quantities of oil and gas onshore Tasmania.

10 Year Exploration Report – SEL13/98 Final Report

As reported previously and posted on our website last year a copy of the Final Report for SEL13/98 (Exploration Activity of GSLM and its predecessor companies, 1984-2009) will be forwarded to shareholders shortly. This report is for information purposes only.

The Final Report details the past 10 years exploration activity and expenditure and show that Empire and GSLM have expended in excess of AU$50 million of capital investment in Tasmania, meeting all the license conditions set by Mineral Resources Tasmania for SEL13/98.

Operations and Drilling Update

As previously stated, the Bronte Park accommodation near Bellevue #1 has also been upgraded and will accommodate the drilling crew, contractors and GSLM staff.

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