The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Evelyn Wever-Croes, Prime Minister of Aruba. The contract area covers a surface of 14,356 sq km, equivalent to approx. 3.5 million acres.

The Armstrong companies, among which are Armstrong Oil & Gas Inc. and Lagniappe Alaska LLC, have an outstanding exploration track record over the last 40 years, discovering multiple giant fields in Alaska including the 2.5+ billion-barrel Pikka field (discovered in 2013) and announcing last month a new and potentially large discovery at King Street No. 1 well.

Armstrong International was created to explore global opportunities to apply the company- s industry expertise to chase large oil and gas fields. - A new chapter in Aruba- s exploration for hydrocarbons has officially started. Our world and way of life keep on evolving, along with our energy needs. CAP- s aim from day one has always been for Aruba to achieve energy independence and moreover, to achieve this in a social and environmentally responsible manner- Glenbert Croes, Minister of Labor, Energy and Integration said.

Bill Armstrong, president and CEO of Armstrong Oil and Gas, added: - We are really encouraged about the potential of Aruba and we are optimistic that we will create significant value for this beautiful island and its people. We have been actively looking worldwide to leverage our exploration successes in the search for new oil and gas opportunities. Our preliminary geological and geophysical work indicates that there are multiple large play opportunities in Aruban waters with look-alike fields in the nearby countries of Venezuela, Trinidad-Tobago, Colombia and Guyana. Aruba is essentially unexplored. This is a very exciting time for Aruba.-

Aruba is one of the Lesser Antilles islands located in the Southern Caribbean Sea. The island is approximately 15 miles off the coast of Venezuela.

--KAY CASHMAN

Editor- s note: See story in June 9 issue of Petroleum News, available Thursday, June 6, at www.PetroleumNews.com.