Toreador Reports First-Quarter 2005 Results & Updates Operational Activities; Operating Income Increases by $1.8 Million vs. Year-Ago Quarter

Business Wire, May 12, 2005

DALLAS -- Toreador Resources Corporation (Nasdaq:TRGL) today reported its first quarter 2005 income applicable to common shares was $1.0 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.08, compared with income applicable to common shares of $21.8 million, or earnings per diluted share of $1.84, for the first quarter of 2004. Dividends for the first quarter 2005 included a non-cash charge of $498,000, or $0.04 per diluted share. The dividend charge represented the value of common shares issued as an inducement for the conversion of 82,000 shares of Series A-1 Convertible Preferred Stock. The first quarter 2004 earnings per diluted share of $1.84 included a gain on the sale of the company's U.S. mineral and royalty portfolio of $18 million along with a foreign currency exchange gain of $4.9 million.

In the first quarter of 2005, Toreador posted operating income of approximately $1.2 million versus an operating loss of $627,000 for the first quarter of 2004. First quarter 2005 oil and gas sales were $6.4 million, compared with $4.3 million for the first quarter of 2004. The increase was primarily due to higher realized oil and natural gas prices, along with increased production.

Toreador's operating cash flow (before changes in working capital accounts) increased by $12.9 million to $2.4 million in the first quarter of 2005 versus the year-ago quarter. The company lost 10.5 million in operating cash flow (before changes in working capital accounts) during the first quarter of 2004. See table at the end of this report for reconciliation between GAAP and operating cash flow before changes in working capital accounts.

First quarter 2005 lease operating expenses of $2.1 million increased from lease operating expenses of $1.9 million in the first quarter of 2004 due to increased workover expenses in France. The increased workover activity resulted in company production being lower than anticipated by about 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) for the first quarter of 2005.

"In the first quarter of 2005, Toreador made a concerted effort to maximize ongoing production from our French fields by increasing the level of workover activity," said G. Thomas Graves III, President and Chief Executive Officer of Toreador. "We expect to reach record levels of daily production in July due to the workovers and the added production from the Charmottes-108 and -110 wells, while lowering the average operating cost per barrel. In addition, we will drill a minimum of four new wells in our Neocomian Field complex later in the year in order to convert existing proved undeveloped locations to the proved producing classification. "In the first quarter of 2005, Toreador's oil and gas production was 149,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), up 3% from 145,000 BOE in the year-ago quarter.

Toreador's average realized oil price in the first quarter of 2005 climbed to $43.49 per barrel from $29.18 per barrel in the year-ago quarter. This represents a 48.7% increase over the same period last year. The average realized gas price in the first quarter of 2005 was $6.17 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), a 6% increase over the average realized gas price of $5.83 per Mcf in the first quarter of 2004.

OPERATIONS

Turkey -- Offshore

On May 8, 2005, Toreador spudded the Akkaya-1 well, the first of three back-to-back delineation wells to follow upon the gas discovery in the shelf area of the western Black Sea made in September 2004 by the Ayazli-1 well in the company's South Akcakoca Sub-Basin Project. Drilling and testing of the well should be completed in approximately four weeks. The Akkaya-1 well, which is on trend with and is located about seven miles east of the Ayazli-1 well, is being drilled by the "Prometheus," the Romanian jackup rig that drilled the Ayazli-1 well.

Tests of Toreador's Ayazli-1 indicated that gas was present from 2,122-3,171 feet in the Eocene-age Kursuri formation, the well's primary objective. Multiple tests resulted in combined flow rates on a 32/64-inch choke of approximately 15 million cubic feet (MMcf) of gas per day with an average flowing wellhead pressure of 824 pounds per square inch.

The overall development program in the South Akcakoca Sub-Basin is currently ahead of schedule. Since the drilling of the Ayazli-1 in September 2004, a 190 square kilometer 3D survey has been shot and an analysis of the data has been completed. Locations for three initial delineation wells have been selected. In addition, Toreador has the option to drill five additional wells using the same rig that will drill the first three wells. The company has completed construction of two modular caisson production structures that are designed to accommodate up to three wells off of each structure.

Toreador is also negotiating a contract for a second rig, most likely a semi-submersible, capable of drilling in the Akcakoca formations where water depths of slightly more than 300 feet are beyond the capabilities of the available jackup rig.

The company estimates that the South Akcakoca Sub-Basin holds the potential for reserves of about 350 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas based on available geologic and geophysical information. An initial producible reserve base of 80-100 Bcf of gas would justify production from the company's South Akcakoca Sub-Basin in the second-half of 2006 from as many as eight wells. Estimated production from each producing well is 5-7 million cubic feet (MMcf) of gas per day. However, the company cannot be more definitive about the area's ultimate reserve potential until delineation drilling and testing are completed.