Production commences at Well A-13

27 March 2012

Matra Petroleum plc

("Matra" or the "Company")

Production commences at Well A-13

Matra, the independent oil and gas exploration and production Company with operations in Russia, is pleased to announce that production commenced on Monday 26th March at Well A-13 on its 100% owned Sokolovskoe oil field discovery in Orenburg. The well is currently flowing oil naturally, as we expected, and is likely to take some time to stabilise. Production is also likely to be affected during the next few weeks due to the start of the thaw period when oil trucking may be difficult and also during the commissioning period for new equipment.

The thaw period is expected to last approximately four to six weeks following which a workover rig will be used to install a down-hole electrical submersible pump on Well A-13 to optimise production.

Peter Hind, Matra's Managing Director said:

"We are pleased that we have been able to start production at Well A-13 despite recent poor weather conditions in Orenburg. The well will take some time to stabilise before we can report meaningful production numbers.

The equipment was mobilised to site just ahead of the thaw period which has now begun.

We look forward to reporting production rates once the down-hole pump is installed."

For further information, please contact:

Notes to Editors:

·; Matra owns 100% of the Arkhangelovskoe Production licence where the first exploration Well A-12 drilled in 2007 discovered the Sokolovskoe oil field. Well A-12 produced high quality oil from a Devonian carbonate reservoir (Aphonenski)

·; Well A-13 was the second well drilled in the Sokolovskoe oil field and was placed on extended test during 2011 when it flowed oil at sustained rates on long-term test

·; Based on the results of a study by Equipoise Solutions Ltd ("Equipoise"), a specialist geoscience consultancy and all other field data, Energy Resource Consultants Ltd ("ERC"), an independent reservoir evaluation company, completed a Competent Persons Report on the Sokolovskoe oil field that determined P50 recoverable contingent resources of 15.1 million barrels

·; The Arkhangelovskoe Production Licence was awarded on 22nd December 2010 and is valid to 31st December 2030

Further information on Matra is available on its website at www.matrapetroleum.com