Tasmanian Government Requests Company Signature for Expected Issuance of Exploration License 14/2009 Covering Bellevue and Thunderbolt Structures by Minister Bryan Green

LEAWOOD, Kan., May 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Empire Energy Corporation International (Empire) (OTC Bulletin Board: EEGCE) with its wholly owned Australian subsidiary, Great South Land Minerals Ltd. (GSLM) announced on Monday, May 10th, 2010 that GSLM has received notice from the Tasmanian Director of Mines, that the License documents for EL14/2009, that GSLM has to sign before the Minister gives his final approval, will be available for signature around lunchtime, 11 May 2010 (Aust EST). GSLM will be seeking board approval and legal advice on whether the terms and conditions of the EL14/2009 are acceptable to the company before signing.

The Director of Mines previously advertised his intention on March 17th, 2010 to recommend to the Minister, GSLM's petroleum exploration license application EL 14/2009 covering 785,800 acres of the onshore Tasmania Basin.

In addition to forward progress on the issuance of Exploration License 14/2009, GSLM received notice from its financial auditing firm UHY Haines Norton (UHY) that UHY has successfully completed its audit of its 2008 accounts. UHY is now working on the 2009 accounts. Empire is currently in the process of completing an audit of its USA 2009 accounts and expects them to be issued shortly by GBH.

Empire and GSLM CEO Malcolm Bendall announced "This news on the forward progress of the Company's nearly eight month old license application is a sign of the positive future for Empire and its shareholders which will build on our $50 million investment.  Our Australian auditors have declared GSLM's 2008 accounts are in order. As soon as the Minister declares our license is in order, Empire and GSLM will re-commence drilling at the Bellevue and Thunderbolt sites in accordance with the drilling plan contained in the license application. We are pleased that the new Minister for Energy and Resources in the newly elected State Government led by the Premier David Bartlett, is Minister Bryan Green, the same minister who renewed GSLM's SEL13/1998 2nd 5-year term license in 2004. His help and advice allowed GSLM to undertake extensive seismic and gravity surveys leading to the discovery of over 12 seismically defined structures considered to be valued by independent experts at over $3.3 billion.  We look forward to working with the new government led by Premier Bartlett and with Minister Bryan Green in developing these petroleum resources for the benefit of all stakeholders including over 500 Tasmanian shareholders. Issuance of exploration license 14/2009 will represent the first time that the Company will have both an exploration license covering seismically defined prospective structures and an economic valuation of those structures (The economic valuations by WHK Denison and RPS Energy Pty Ltd, which apply to a larger area, can be viewed at the company website at www.empireenergy.com). The Company's current market capitalization and share price is 200 times less than the current economic evaluation of our total discovered prospects of US$3.3 billion comparative market value.

Upon formal issuance to GSLM of exploration license EL 14/2009, the Company plans to immediately resume its drilling program, update its environmental studies and complete its goal of commercializing oil and gas within the Tasmania Basin.

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