Harvest Natural Resources Announces Operational Update

HOUSTON, March 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Harvest Natural Resources, Inc. today announced an update of the operational activities of its Venezuelan affiliate, Petrodelta, S.A. (Petrodelta) and the status of its pending transactions involving its exploration Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) in Indonesia and Gabon.

Production and Reserves

Petrodelta delivered 1.2 million barrels of oil, or 13,100 barrels of oil per day, and 3.3 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas to PDVSA Petroleo, S.A. (PPSA) during the fourth quarter 2007. The average price received for oil deliveries was $74.91, which was approximately 83 percent of the average price for West Texas Intermediate and approximates world market prices for the quality of oil produced by Petrodelta. The natural gas price is contractually fixed at $1.54 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf).

During the twenty-one months beginning April 1, 2006, the economic effective date for Petrodelta, and ended December 31, 2007, Petrodelta produced and sold 10.6 million barrels of oil and 25 Bcf of natural gas to PPSA. The average oil price was $54.85 per barrel, or 78 percent of the average price for West Texas Intermediate during that period.

Harvest engaged Ryder Scott Company, L.P. (Ryder Scott), an independent engineering firm, to prepare an estimate of proved, probable and possible reserves and an estimate of the future net cash flows associated with those reserves as of December 31, 2007. Ryder Scott used an oil price of $75.86 per barrel, which was approximately 83 percent of the average December 2007 West Texas Intermediate price, to estimate the value of Harvest’s 32 percent interest in Petrodelta. Natural gas prices were $1.54 per Mcf as fixed in the hydrocarbon sales contract. Based on Ryder Scott’s evaluation, Harvest’s share of Petrodelta’s reserves, net of royalty, and after-tax cash flows discounted at 10 percent are listed below.

                                                          After – tax cash                 Oil        Natural Gas      Total        flows discounted               (MMBbls)        (Bcf)        (MMBoe)      at 10 percent ($MM)   Proved        37.8          34.5          43.6               $523   Probable      26.6          25.8          30.9               $267   Possible      68.0          28.8          72.8               $693    

Harvest President and Chief Executive Officer, James A. Edmiston, said, “Based on the Ryder Scott report, our 32 percent share of Petrodelta’s proved and probable reserves, net of royalty, were 74.5 million barrels of oil equivalent with cumulative pre-tax and after-tax cash flows, discounted at 10 percent, of $1.7 billion and $790 million respectively. The six fields operated by Petrodelta have almost six billion barrels of oil in place providing Petrodelta with the scale to significantly increase production, cash flow and reserves over the next several years. The three South Monagas Unit (SMU) fields we began to develop and operate in 1992 have 1.1 billion barrels of oil in place. Estimated ultimate oil recovery from the SMU fields, including cumulative production plus the remaining proved reserves, is 27 percent of the oil in place. Cumulative production plus Ryder Scott’s estimate of proved, probable and possible reserves imply an estimated average 13 percent ultimate oil recovery of the 4.9 billion barrels of oil in place for the newly awarded fields providing Petrodelta with the opportunity to further increase the value of Petrodelta’s asset base.”

Petrodelta Drilling Update

Petrodelta has one drilling rig under contract and the rig is expected to spud its first well in the Uracoa field in the coming weeks. In addition, the bidding and selection process for a second drilling rig is underway and the rig is expected to be under contract and spud its first well later this year. The two rigs will restart the Uracoa field drilling program that was suspended in January 2005. During the last six months of 2004, Harvest increased Uracoa’s oil production by over 10,000 barrels of oil per day using two drilling rigs to drill 17 wells, but there are no assurances Petrodelta will achieve similar results under the current drilling program.

Edmiston said, “The Petrodelta shareholders jointly prepared a business plan to maximize the long-term value of its assets and cash flow. One of the objectives of this plan is to build production with an early focus on the rapid development of the reserve base. While the start of the drilling program has been delayed by transitional issues, the delay should have little effect given the long-term nature of the development.”

Budong-Budong, Indonesia Production Sharing Contract

Harvest has agreed to acquire a 47 percent interest in the 1.4 million acre Budong-Budong exploration production sharing contract (Budong PSC) in Indonesia. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Harvest will fund 100 percent of the first $17.2 million of seismic and drilling costs to earn its 47 percent interest. The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2008. The Budong PSC, located onshore West Sulawesi, will provide Harvest with exposure to significant resource potential in a basin with a demonstrated active petroleum system. Exploration in the West Sulawesi Foldbelt (WSFB) is immature due to previously difficult jungle terrain, which is now more readily accessible. Recent seismic surveys over the offshore portion of the WSFB have greatly improved the understanding of the geology and enhanced the prospectivity of the offshore WSFB and, by analogy, the sparsely explored onshore area.

The partners are acquiring 2-D seismic data on a portion of the Budong PSC and expect to complete the acquisition, processing and interpretation of the seismic data later this year. Upon completion of the seismic, the Budong PSC partners expect to drill one well in the Karama sub-basin and one well in the Lariang sub-basin.

Edmiston said, “Budong provides us with exposure to significant potential resources in a proven petroleum system for a cost of approximately $0.45 per diluted share. We have identified leads in both the Karama and Lariang sub-basins with prospective resources in the range of 50 to 100 million barrels each should they mature into drillable prospects.”

Dussafu Marin, Gabon Production Sharing Contract

Harvest will enter Gabon through the acquisition of a 50 percent operated interest in the Dussafu Marin exploration production sharing contract (Dussafu PSC). The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2008. Located offshore Gabon, the Dussafu PSC contains 680,000 acres with water depths ranging to 1,000 feet. The Dussafu PSC has two small oil discoveries and a natural gas discovery.

The Dussafu PSC participants and the Gabon Oil Ministry recently agreed to enter into the three-year second exploration phase of the PSC with an effective date of May 28, 2007. The second exploration phase work commitment includes the acquisition and processing of 500 kilometers of 2-D seismic, geology and geophysical interpretation, engineering studies and the drilling of a conditional well. Leads in the near shore, underexplored syn-rift play, which is commercial in immediately adjacent fields, have been identified and are expected to be the focus of the planned 2008 and 2009 work programs.

Edmiston continued, “With an exploration strategy and work program focused on exploiting the potential within the underexplored syn-rift play in conjunction with further evaluation of the Gamba play, the Dussafu PSC participants anticipate drilling prospects can be generated to test these play concepts in late 2009. Based on the results of the seismic program, we hope to develop drillable prospects for 2009 and beyond. The acquisition and seismic study costs are approximately $0.17 per diluted share.”

Conference Call

Harvest will hold a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. Central Time (11:00 Eastern Time) to discuss fourth quarter and 2007 financial results and provide an operations update. To access the call, dial 785-424-1056, conference ID: Harvest, five to ten minutes prior to the start time. A recording of the conference call will also be available for replay through March 27, 2008 at 402-220-2656. To listen to the live webcast of the call, please visit our website at http://www.harvestnr.com/.

About Harvest Natural Resources

Harvest Natural Resources, Inc. headquartered in Houston, Texas, is an independent energy company with principal operations in Venezuela, exploration assets in Indonesia and West Africa and a business development office in the United Kingdom. For more information visit the Company’s website at http://www.harvestnr.com/.

“Cautionary note to investors – The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions. We use certain terms in this press release such as prospective resources, probable reserves, possible reserves, non-proved reserves or other descriptions of volumes of reserves, that SEC guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC. These estimates are by their nature more speculative than estimates of proved reserves and accordingly, are subject to substantially greater risk of being actually realized by the Company. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other public filings with the SEC, available from us on our website at http://www.harvestnr.com/ or by submitting a request to us at Harvest Natural Resources, Inc., 1177 Enclave Parkway, Suite 300, Houston, Texas, 77077, Attention: Investor Relations. You can also obtain these filings from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330 or from the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov/.”

“This press release may contain projections and other forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. They include estimates and timing of expected oil and gas production, oil and gas reserve projections of future oil pricing, future expenses, planned capital expenditures, anticipated cash flow and our business strategy. All statements other than statements of historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements. Although Harvest believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Actual results may differ materially from Harvest’s expectations as a result of factors discussed in Harvest’s 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other public filings.”

Harvest Natural Resources, Inc.

CONTACT: Steven W. Tholen, Senior Vice President, Chief FinancialOfficer of Harvest Natural Resources, Inc., +1-281-899-5714

Web site: http://www.harvestnr.com/