Rex Energy Provides Operational Update and Upcoming Conference Schedule

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Sept. 19, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rex Energy Corporation (Nasdaq:REXX) is providing the following operational update for its Appalachia and Illinois regions. Unless specifically stated otherwise in this news release, all numbers are gross.

Butler County, Pennsylvania Operated Area

The company has completed and placed into service its three well Behm pad. The five-day flow rate for all three wells averaged approximately 6,600 Mcfe/d per well, for a combined total of 19,700 Mcfe/d. This is an average per well increase of 50% and 74% compared to the average five-day flow rates of the three well Talarico pad and the four well Drushel pad, respectively. The thirty-day flow rates for the three wells averaged approximately 5,300 Mcfe/d per well. This is an increase of 66% and 71% compared to the average thirty-day flow rates for the three well Talarico pad and the four well Drushel pad, respectively. Based on the average lateral length of 4,200 feet per well, initial thirty day rates and reservoir data, the company estimates that the average of the three well Behm pad, should exceed the company's current 5.0 Bcfe type curve. 

Rex Energy completed fracture stimulation and completion operations on its Upper Devonian Shale test well, the Gilliland #11-HB, which had a 2,700 ft. lateral length. The well had a five day average flow rate of approximately 3,060 Mcfe/d and will be placed into sales in the fourth quarter. The produced gas from the Gilliland #11-HB, is similar in composition to the gas produced by Marcellus Shale wells in the area. The company is encouraged by these results, and plans to drill and complete additional Upper Devonian/Burkett Shale wells during its 2012 drilling program.

Rex Energy has completed drilling its first Utica Shale test well in Butler County, the Cheeseman #1, and has begun fracture stimulation. The company expects to have additional information on the well in time for its third quarter conference call.

Westmoreland & Centre Counties, Pennsylvania Non-Operated Area

In Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where Williams serves as the operator, the four well Uschak #1 pad was placed into service with an average five-day flow rate of 3,280 Mcf/d per well, and a 30-day average flow rate of 2,700 Mcf/d per well. Due to midstream constraints, both the five and thirty-day rates were restricted and therefore are not reflective of the wells' true potential.  The last 12 wells in the Westmoreland joint venture area, including the four Uschak #1 wells, have had an average five-day flow rate of 4,200 Mcf/d per well, and an average 30-day flow rate of 3,260 Mcf/d per well. These rates were also restricted due to pipeline constraints. Gross production from Williams' joint venture Marcellus Shale wells in Westmoreland County for the month of August was 25,800 Mcf / day. An additional 45,000 Mcf /d of take-away capacity is expected to be available during the fourth quarter. A portion of this additional capacity will allow the wells to flow at higher rates.

In Centre County, Pennsylvania, Williams has completed fracture stimulation of the four wells on the Resource Recovery #1 pad. They are currently in the process of drilling out plugs and flowing back. Rex expects to provide an update on these wells during its third quarter conference call.

Illinois Basin – ASP Project

The company is continuing to see a positive response on its ASP Middagh pilot project.  Oil response in the 6 well producing pattern has continued to show an increase in oil cut from 1% to 10%.  Total pattern production has increased to 80-85 gross barrels of oil per day, up from the previously announced range of 70-78 gross barrels of oil per day.  Three of the producing wells have average oil cuts of over 17%, with oil cuts still increasing at two of the three remaining wells.  The production profile of the three wells with the highest oil cuts appears to be reaching a plateau.  Based on the production profile to date, it appears that the company will achieve sufficient ranges of pore volume recovery of oil from the pilot to validate the required reservoir response to sanction future development. "We continue to be very encouraged by the ASP pilot performance," said Pat McKinney, Rex Energy's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.  "We believe it is still premature to estimate the eventual pore volume oil recovery and translate the preliminary response of the pilot into tertiary recovery proved reserves. We are still on track to be able to determine the extent of the proved reserve booking impact of the project by the end of 2011."

Upcoming Conference Schedule and Updated Corporate Presentation

Rex Energy's management will be participating in the following investor conferences. Presentation dates, times and webcast availability are all subject to change at the discretion of the conference organizer. Please refer to the Rex Energy website for further details on these conferences and other upcoming events.
 

Presentations and webcasts for the events listed above, if available, can be found on the Investor Relations section of the Rex Energy website, www.rexenergy.com under Events & Presentations. The presentations will be posted no later than two hours before the event and will remain available for thirty days after the event.

The operational updates in this press release are reflected in the company's September corporate presentation which will be made available on the Rex Energy Website under the Events & Presentations section of the Investor Relations homepage.

About Rex Energy Corporation

Rex Energy is headquartered in State College, Pennsylvania and is an independent oil and gas company operating in the Appalachian, Illinois and Denver-Julesburg Basins within the United States. The company's strategy is to pursue its higher potential exploration drilling prospects while acquiring oil and natural gas properties complementary to its portfolio. 

The Rex Energy Corporation logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5489

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for historical information, statements made in this release, including those relating to estimates for production rates, production growth, planned drilling and completion activities, fracture stimulation activities, expectations for additional pipeline capacity, expected dates for wells to begin producing and for production to be placed into sales, and timing and results for the ASP pilot project, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are indicated by words such as "expected", "expects", "anticipates" and similar words. These statements are based on assumptions and estimates that management believes are reasonable based on currently available information; however, management's assumptions and the company's future performance are subject to a wide range of business risks and uncertainties, and there is no assurance that these goals and projections can or will be met. Any number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including (without limitation) the following:

• adverse economic conditions in the United States and globally; 
• the difficult and adverse conditions in the domestic and global capital and credit markets; 
• domestic and global demand for oil and natural gas; 
• sustained or further declines in the prices the company receives for oil and natural gas; 
• the effects of government regulation, permitting and other legal requirements; 
• the geologic quality of the company's properties with regard to, among other things, the existence of hydrocarbons in economic quantities; 
• uncertainties about the estimates of the company's oil and natural gas reserves; 
• the company's ability to increase production and oil and natural gas income through exploration and development; 
• the company's ability to successfully apply horizontal drilling techniques and tertiary recovery methods;
• the number of well locations to be drilled, the cost to drill and the time frame within which they will be drilled;
• the effects of adverse weather on operations;
• drilling and operating risks;
• the ability of contractors to timely and adequately perform their drilling, construction, well stimulation, completion and production services;
• pipeline and capacity restraints in the midstream, or other external limitations on the company's ability to place its production into sales
• the availability of equipment, such as drilling rigs and transportation pipelines; 
• changes in the company's drilling plans and related budgets; 
• the adequacy of capital resources and liquidity including (without limitation) access to additional borrowing capacity; and 
• uncertainties associated with our legal proceedings and the outcome.

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Further information on the company's risks and uncertainties is available in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company's internal estimates of reserves may be subject to revision and may be different from estimates by the company's external reservoir engineers at year end. Although the company believes the expectations and forecasts reflected in these and other forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance they will prove to have been correct. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties.

For more information, please visit our website or contact: www.rexenergy.com