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Saratoga Resources (SARA) Enters into Joint Venture Negotiations with McMoRan

Saratoga Resources, Inc. (NYSE AMEX: SARA) today announced that it is in advanced discussions with McMoRan Oil and Gas LLC (McMoRan) regarding a potential joint venture on Saratoga’s Long John Silver Prospect at Vermilion 16 field.

While specific terms of the proposed joint venture are still being discussed and subject to confidentiality obligations, Saratoga anticipates contributing its deep rights (approximately 20,000 feet and below) to approximately 4,000 acres and access to Saratoga’s production and pipeline facilities in Vermilion 16 with McMoRan expected to contribute approximately 6,000 acres to the joint venture. The joint venture objective is expected to target ultradeep shelf Lower Tertiary (Wilcox) and Cretaceous objectives at depths of 23,000-30,000 feet subsea. All of the subject acreage is in Louisiana state waters in Vermilion Parish with water depths ranging from 5-10 feet.

The Long John Silver Prospect is situated in one of the main Lower Wilcox depositional fairways that fed McMoRan’s Davey Jones discovery on the Gulf of Mexico Shelf and the Walker Ridge Wilcox discoveries in Gulf of Mexico Deepwater.

Saratoga will retain its existing rights to all shallower objectives in the subject acreage, including all proved, probable and possible reserves, consisting of 8.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE) of proved reserves and 18.6 MMBOE of total reserves at January 1, 2011. Additionally, Saratoga will retain the right to process its production from such shallower objectives at Saratoga’s production and pipeline facilities. Saratoga owns and operates a central production facility in Vermilion Block 16 with production capacity of 100 million cubic feet per day and a two mile pipeline to shore. Saratoga intends to continue its current development plans with respect to its shallower reserves in Vermilion 16, including drilling of development wells commencing in the first quarter of 2012.

Saratoga President, Mr. Andy Clifford, said “We are excited at the prospect of partnering with McMoRan in our ultradeep shelf play. McMoRan’s management team, under the visionary leadership of James Moffett, has established its position as a pioneer and the preeminent player in the ultradeep shelf play. We have gained valuable insights into the ultradeep Wilcox play through our involvement in the University of Texas Deep Shelf Consortium and through my years at BHP Billiton, a participant in the original Blackbeard well and a participant in the Cascade and Chinook Wilcox discoveries in Walker Ridge. We believe our Long John Silver Prospect has similar characteristics to recent high profile Wilcox successes, including McMoRan’s highly acclaimed Davey Jones well. Our 3D mapped deep shelf plays in Vermilion 16 and Grand Bay add exciting potential to our ongoing developmental drilling program.”

Capital One Southcoast Energy Conference Presentation

Saratoga is presenting at the Capital One Southcoast 2011 Energy Conference in New Orleans on Tuesday, December 6th at 10:40am CST. To view a web cast of our presentation at the conference, click on the link at our website at www.saratogaresources.com.

About Saratoga Resources

Saratoga is an independent exploration and production Company with offices in Houston, Texas and Covington, Louisiana. Principal holdings cover 33,625 gross (31,125 net) acres, mostly held-by-production, located in the transitional coastline and protected in-bay environment on parish and state leases of south Louisiana. For more information, go to our website at www.saratogaresources.com and sign up for regular updates by clicking on the Updates button.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release includes certain estimates and other forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements regarding the actual finalization of a joint venture agreement, the terms of any such joint venture, Saratoga’s ability to fulfill its obligations with respect to such joint venture and the ultimate results of any drilling efforts of such joint venture. Words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “assumes”, “seeks”, “estimates”, “should”, and variations of these words and similar expressions, are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. While we believe these statements are accurate, forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and we cannot assure you that these expectations will occur and our actual results may be significantly different. These statements by the Company and its management are based on estimates, projections, beliefs and assumptions of management and are not guarantees of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking statements include the factors described in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement based on the occurrence of future events, the receipt of new information, or otherwise.

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 Uncategorized
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