VPI Vintage Pete

Vintage Petroleum, Inc. (NYSE:VPI) announced today the results and status of its third quarter operational activities and plans for the remainder of 2005. In the three months ending September 30, 2005, the company made capital investments totaling $142.9 million, with $65.5 million going to a variety of lower-risk exploitation projects, $16.3 million spent on potentially higher-impact exploration programs in the United States and Yemen and $61.1 million on domestic acquisitions. This brings total capital expenditures for the first nine months of 2005 to $286.9 million including $70.1 million of acquisitions. The 2005 non-acquisition capital budget of $285 million remains intact, however, the remaining amount to be spent has been reallocated. An increase in spending is planned for exploitation in the United States and Argentina, raising the total for exploitation to $234 million from the prior $217 million. A portion of the spending allocated to domestic conventional and unconventional resource exploration has been deferred, fostered by the protracted process of maturing prospects and the difficulty obtaining drilling rigs on a timely basis, effectively reducing exploration spending in 2005 to $51 million from $68 million. United States - Exploitation Based on the company's success to date in domestic exploitation activities and the opportunity to expand the drilling program in several fields, Vintage has increased its 2005 domestic capital spending budget for exploitation by $10 million to a total of $80 million. Active drilling programs and workovers continue in the Luling, Darst Creek and West Ranch fields in South Central Texas, where 10 wells were drilled and 10 workovers were completed during the third quarter. Work is currently underway to drill an additional nine wells and complete 12 workovers, bringing total activity for the year to 34 wells drilled and 34 workovers completed. Activity in the third quarter of 2005 included the continuation of an infill drilling program in the South Gilmer field of East Texas, where two wells and one workover were successfully completed. The expanded budget provides for one workover and two additional wells to be drilled at Gilmer during the fourth quarter raising total activity for the year to 11 wells drilled and two completed workovers. Progress continues towards returning to production, volumes that were shut-in as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The company expects that all but approximately 1,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or one and one-half percent of the net daily volume produced in the second quarter, will be returned to production by mid-November. United States - Exploration The focus of domestic exploration activity is split between onshore unconventional gas resource plays and conventional exploration targeting principally the Gulf Coast. The capital budget for U.S. exploration has been reduced to $41 million from $60 million principally due to delays in planned drilling caused by the difficulty in obtaining drilling rigs on a timely basis and the increasingly time consuming process of maturing exploration prospects. In the unconventional gas resource exploration program, long-term testing is underway on both the Echols 2 #1 and Burleson 60 #1 wells in the Palo Duro Basin of Texas, which the company drilled and fracture stimulated earlier in the year. Results of these long-term production tests from the Echols and Burleson wells will be analyzed before additional drilling is undertaken in the Palo Duro Basin. Vintage owns working interests in this venture which range between 65 and 75 percent. To date, more than 360,000 net acres have been acquired in the five separate unconventional play concepts located in the Palo Duro and other areas of the country. The company has secured a rig that will commence drilling operations mid-November on the second play concept to be tested, a Devonian shale gas play. Currently, the company has accumulated over 78,500 net acres in this play concept and may seek to acquire additional acreage. Conventional exploration activities primarily target natural gas that can be brought to production quickly. Vintage is actively drilling or maturing four exploration prospects to test play concepts primarily located in the offshore Texas Gulf Coast. The Olivier #1 well, currently drilling at a depth below 15,800 feet, is a deep gas test in Louisiana, updip to existing productive sands. Similarly, the company's Wesson prospect at Mustang Island Block 771-L is slated to test the deep Marg tex sands and is targeted to spud in early December. Two additional prospects are being readied to drill by year-end 2005, one located on West Cameron 145 in the federal waters of offshore Louisiana, which targets Miocene age formations at depths of approximately 12,000 to 15,000 feet, as well as the company's prospect targeting gas in underdeveloped Frio and Vicksburg sands in Nueces Bay located in the state waters of Texas. Argentina The company's forecasted production growth in 2005 is supported by an increase in Argentina capital spending of 34 percent over 2004 levels to $125 million, which targets the drilling of approximately 115 wells. Third quarter activity included the drilling of 33 wells, with eight in progress, and the completion of 25 workovers. Currently there are seven drilling rigs and 10 workover rigs active on the company's concessions in the San Jorge and Cuyo Basins. Further, a portion of 2005 capital spending is budgeted for the implementation of four waterflood projects which could enhance production in 2006. Procurement and installation work was initiated on three of these projects in the second quarter. Similarly, Vintage is initiating a gas commercialization project in the Western concessions of the San Jorge Basin. Plans call for a phased installation of a gas gathering system with initial throughput beginning early 2006, gradually increasing to 8 million cubic feet per day late in the year. Acquisition of an additional 230 square miles of 3-D seismic on the El Huemul, Las Heras and Sur Piedra Clavada concessions located on the south flank of the San Jorge Basin will be initiated during the fourth quarter of 2005. To date, only about one-half of the company's more than one million acres in Argentina have been surveyed using 3-D seismic. Third quarter activity continued to build on the company's substantial existing inventory of more than 800 combined proved undeveloped, probable and possible drilling locations which provide significant future production visibility. Furthermore, given the company's production growth and high drilling success rate, predicated upon its 3-D seismic surveys over the past nine years, additional drilling locations are likely to be generated as the existing inventory is drilled, existing 3-D seismic is further evaluated and new 3-D seismic surveys are conducted. With Argentina currently accounting for approximately one-half of company production, Argentina's projected growth provides strong support for total company volume growth. Yemen Gross production in Yemen was 9,009 barrels of oil per day (4,685 net) in the third quarter, before the impact of changes in inventories. With the addition of production initiated from the An Nagyah #16 and An Nagyah #17 horizontal wells during the third quarter, current production recently reached approximately 11,300 gross barrels of oil per day (5,900 net). Given the performance of existing wells in the An Nagyah field, the contribution from wells drilled in the third quarter and expected production from the An Nagyah #18, the company anticipates that daily production could exceed 12,000 gross barrels of oil (6,240 net) by year-end 2005. Drilling on the An Nagyah #18, another horizontal development well targeting the Lam formation, is underway. The An Nagyah #18 well and the three horizontal wells drilled earlier this year, are located and designed to optimize recovery of oil from the An Nagyah field. After drilling the An Nagyah #18, the rig will move approximately 14 miles (22 km) to the northwest to drill the Hatat #1 prospect. This 6,560 foot (2,000 m) exploration well will test a potentially fractured, granite basement high. Vintage to Webcast Third-Quarter 2005 Conference Call The company's teleconference call to review third quarter 2005 results will be broadcast live on a listen-only basis over the Internet on Thursday, November 3, 2005, at 3 p.m. Central time. Interested parties may access the webcast by visiting the Vintage Petroleum, Inc. website at www.vintagepetroleum.com and selecting the microphone icon, or at www.fulldisclosure.com and typing VPI in the ticker search box and selecting "Go". The teleconference may be accessed by dialing 800/362-0571 and providing the call identifier "Vintage" to the operator. The webcast and the accompanying slide presentation will be available for replay at the company's website. An audio replay will be available until November 11, 2005, by dialing 402/220-7223. Forward-Looking Statements This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, including future production, exploitation activities, exploration, operating costs, capital spending, planned drilling levels, proved undeveloped, probable and possible locations, and events or developments that the company expects or believes are forward-looking statements. Although Vintage believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements in the event that the proposed merger with Occidental Petroleum is completed. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the effects on the company in the event that the Occidental merger is not completed, oil and gas prices, company realizations, exploitation and exploration successes, actions taken and to be taken by foreign governments as a result of political and economic conditions or other factors, changes in foreign exchange rates and inflation rates, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions as well as other risk factors described from time to time in the company's filings with the SEC. The company assumes no obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by law. Vintage Petroleum, Inc. is an independent energy company engaged in the acquisition, exploitation and exploration of oil and gas properties and the marketing of natural gas and crude oil. Company headquarters are in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and its common shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VPI. For additional information, visit the company website at www.vintagepetroleum.com.