Vast Exploration Inc. Appoints General Jay Garner as Chairman of the Board of Directors

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Aug. 4, 2011) - Vast Exploration Inc. ("Vast" or the "Company) (TSX VENTURE:VST) is pleased to announce the appointment of General (Ret'd) Jay Garner as Chairman of the board of directors.

Mr. Stan Bharti, commented "We are delighted to add General Garner back to the board of directors. Jay has been recently serving as an advisor to the Company, and his guidance has been invaluable over the past several years. We look forward to Jay's leadership and distinguished experience as we move forward to the next phase of the Kurdistan project."

General Garner's military career culminated with his being Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, U.S. Army. In January 2003, General Garner was appointed by the Secretary of Defense to organize and direct the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) for post-war Iraq. In 1991, General Garner was appointed Commanding General, Joint Task Force Bravo for Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq. Under his leadership, a coalition of American, British, French and Italian forces provided humanitarian relief assistance to the Iraqi Kurds.

The Company is also pleased to announce that it has appointed Neil Said as the Corporate Secretary of the Company. Mr. Neil Said is a corporate securities lawyer who works as a legal consultant to various TSX and TSX Venture listed companies in the mining and oil & gas industries. Mr. Neil Said previously worked as a securities lawyer at a large Toronto corporate law firm. He obtained his JD degree from the University of Toronto and received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University. In connection with his appointment, Mr. Said has been granted 200,000 stock options to purchase the same number of common shares of the Company at a price of $0.16 per option exercised. The stock options, and any shares issued on exercise thereof, will be subject to a four month statutory hold period.

About Vast Exploration

Vast Exploration Inc. is an independent oil and gas company. Vast is focused on the exploration and development of its principal asset, the Qara Dagh Block, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where it holds a net undivided 37% working interest in the block. The Qara Dagh Block lies on trend with existing discoveries and is located in the prolific Zagros Fold Belt of Northern Iraq, which contains several large fields including the super-giant Kirkuk field.

Forward-looking Information Warning

This press release contains "forward looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to impact of these appointments on the Company, the prospective nature of the Qara Dagh Block, the drilling program and revised timeline for completion, exploration and development plans and projected expenses and timetable, and relationships with other companies who hold an interest in the Qara Dagh Block. Generally, forward looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. For a description of some of such risks, please see the Company's most recent annual information form filed under the profile of the Company on SEDAR. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.