Petra Petroleum Inc.: Appointment of New Chief Financial Officer

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 30, 2011) - Petra Petroleum Inc. (TSX VENTURE:PTL) (the "Corporation") is pleased to announce the appointment of John Downes as Chief Financial Officer of the Company to replace K. Peter Miller who has decided to pursue other projects. Bob Lambert, CEO commented, "We thank Peter for his contributions to the Corporation and we wish him the best in his future endeavours. We also welcome John and look forward to working with him as the Corporation embarks on a new phase of growth."

Mr. Downes has over 10 years of management and accounting experience in the natural resource and financial services sectors, also serving as the CFO for American Vanadium Resources Corp., Canadian Phoenix Resources Corp. and as the VP Finance for Ionic Management Corp. Previously, he was the Manager of Financial Reporting for Sprott Resource Lending Corp. and was a Manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dublin, Ireland and Vancouver. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Victoria.