Western Standard Energy Corp. Adds to Management and Advisory Board

Wednesday June 18, 9:00 am ET

WILLISTON, N.D.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Western Standard Energy Corp., (OTC BB: WSEG.OB), an oil and gas exploration company, today announced that it has appointed Dr. Steven W. Ohnimus as Vice-Chairman to its Advisory Board, and Mr. Gary Countryman as Senior Vice-President of Exploration. Both gentlemen bring several decades of experience in petroleum engineering to Western Standard.

Serving his entire professional career with Unocal (now part of Chevron), Dr. Ohnimus has extensive upstream production experience as the senior executive responsible for Unocal's partner-operated ventures in countries such as Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, the Congo, Myanmar, Yemen, Indonesia, and throughout the United States. Prior to that, he was General Manager of Asset Analysis overseeing a portfolio valued at more than $5.5 billion. Dr. Ohnimus was also Vice President and General Manager of Unocal Indonesia, operating five offshore fields and one onshore LEX plant. Dr. Ohnimus served in various management roles pertaining to Unocal's domestic interests, particularly in Alaska, Louisiana and Texas. Dr. Ohnimus is a former Director of the American Petroleum Institute (API), and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), both in Lafayette, Louisiana, and holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering and MSc and PhD degrees in Petroleum Engineering, all from the University of Missouri.

Mr. Countryman joins as Senior Vice-President, Exploration bringing nearly five decades of experience in upstream research, development, and production, starting out as a research engineer at Conoco (now ConocoPhillips) in 1960 where he spent most of his career. Mr. Countryman has held various senior management positions prior to becoming Vice President and General Manager of Conoco's subsidiary Dubai Petroleum Co. in the United Arab Emirates in 1977. Other roles included Manager of Operations for Conoco's Houston operations, General Manager, Egypt, and assistant to the Chairman and CEO. Mr. Countryman has since co-owned The Operating Co. and was the Vice President of Operations for Greenhill Petroleum Co., both based in Houston. Mr. Countryman is a Sloan Fellow, with a Masters Degree in Finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has both Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Petroleum Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

CEO of Western Standard Energy, Dan Bauer states, "We are very pleased to bring Gary's knowledge and experience to our team and I personally look forward to working closely with him as we continue to grow the company through the acquisition and development of both new and existing properties." Mr. Bauer added "We are also pleased to bring onboard the vast experience and knowledge that Dr. Ohnimus adds to our Advisory Board. He is not only a highly respected petroleum engineer, but also possesses a track record of success in the executive management at both major producers and as a director of independent E&P companies. We expect that Dr. Ohnimus will be a valuable asset to our Advisory Board, joining its Chairman, Dr. Aminzadeh and the other advisors."

Mr. Will Divine will move from his current position to the role of Senior Vice-President, Business Development.

About Western Standard Energy Corp.

Western Standard Energy Corp. is a publicly traded independent oil and gas exploration company. Western Standard aims to secure and develop a portfolio of oil and gas properties throughout the Central and Western United States of America. Western Standard Energy Corp. is a publicly traded company and trades on the OTC BB under the ticker symbol: WSEG. Shareholders are invited to contact corporate communications toll free at (888) 956-7843 for further information.

Western Standard Energy Corp.
Dan Bauer, President

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this news release include that Dr. Ohnimus will act as Vice-Chairman of the Advisory Board at Western Standard Energy Corp, (?Company'), that Mr. Countryman will act as Senior Vice-President of Exploration at the Company, and that the Company aims to secure and develop a portfolio of oil and gas properties throughout the Central and Western US. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include the inability to reach agreement with contracted parties; uncertainty of the requirements demanded by environmental agencies, the Company's inability to raise financing for operations, breach by parties with whom we have contracted, inability to maintain qualified employees or consultants, competition for equipment, inability to obtain drilling permits, potential delays or obstacles in drilling operations and interpreting data, and the likelihood that no commercial quantities of gas are found or recoverable. Readers should also refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's quarterly reports on Form 10-QSB, annual reports on Form 10-KSB and the Company's other disclosure documents filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission available at www.sec.gov.

Cautionary Note to U.S. 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 document that SEC's guidelines may prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our annual report on Form 10-KSB and quarterly reports on Form 10-QSB available from us or the SEC.

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