Pan Orient Successful Bidder for East Jabung PSC Indonesia

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - May 24, 2011) -

East Jabung Production Sharing Contract (Pan Orient 100% working interest and operator)

Pan Orient Energy Corp. (TSX VENTURE:POE) is pleased to announce that it has been notified by MIGAS, the Government of Indonesia oil and gas licensing regulator, that it was the successful bidder on a 100% working interest basis for the 6,228 square kilometer East Jabung production sharing contract ("PSC") located on and offshore south Sumatra Indonesia. East Jabung PSC is directly east and adjacent to the company's 97% working interest and operated Batu Gajah PSC where the first well of a six well high impact 2011 drilling program was recently announced as a gas discovery and a second well is expected to start drilling in the next 10-12 days.

The fiscal terms for the East Jabung PSC are the best in all of western Indonesia with a split of profits 65% to the government and 35% to the contractor for oil, and 60% to the government and 40% to the contractor for natural gas.

Upon official signing of the East Jabung PSC, which is anticipated shortly, Pan Orient's acreage holdings in Indonesia will include four PSCs totalling 15,735 square kilometers in areal extent, focused in the prolific western Indonesia regions of south Sumatra and west Java.

Initial plans are for one well in the first contract year targeting the onshore Anggun prospect possessing 85 square kilometers of 2D seismic defined structural closure at the Batu Raja reef main target level and approximately 100 square kilometers of mapped structural closure at the secondary Air Benakat sandstone reservoir level. The prospect lies in close proximity to the proven hydrocarbon generating East Ketaling source rock kitchen. Drilling in year one will be followed by 2D seismic acquisition in year two and a second well in year three of the contract.

The East Jabung PSC marks a continuation of Pan Orient's ability to identify and capture high potential onshore opportunities in proven hydrocarbon bearing regions with existing infrastructure and with upside potential similar to what many operators are pursuing in the higher risk and higher cost frontier deep water regions of Indonesia. The company will continue to pursue this sustainable strategy for the foreseeable future.

Pan Orient is a Calgary, Alberta based oil and gas exploration and production company with operations currently located onshore Thailand, Indonesia and in Western Canada.

This news release contains forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is generally identifiable by the terminology used, such as "expect", "believe", "estimate", "should", "anticipate" and "potential" or other similar wording. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, references to: well drilling programs and drilling plans, estimates of reserves and potentially recoverable resources, and information on future production and project start-ups. By their very nature, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release require Pan Orient and its management to make assumptions that may not materialize or that may not be accurate. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results, expectations, achievements or performance to differ materially, including without limitation: imprecision of reserve estimates and estimates of recoverable quantities of oil, changes in project schedules, operating and reservoir performance, the effects of weather and climate change, the results of exploration and development drilling and related activities, demand for oil and gas, commercial negotiations, other technical and economic factors or revisions and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Pan Orient. Although Pan Orient believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct.