February 14th, 2011
Toreador Agrees Interim Way Forward with French Government in Paris Basin Tight Rock Oil Program

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Toreador Resources Corporation today announced that its subsidiary Toreador Energy France and its partner, Hess Oil France SAS, (“Partners”) along with select other energy industry companies in France, met with France’s Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Energy to discuss the government’s decision to instruct the General Council of Industry, Energy and Technology (CGIET) and the General Council on the Environment and Sustainable Development (CGEED) to undertake a study to determine the economic, social and environmental impact of both shale oil and shale gas development in France.

The Ministers provided Toreador and Hess an opportunity to present what the Partners believe are the material positive benefits that tight rock oil development in the Paris Basin would have both regionally and nationally in France. Marc Sengès, CFO of Toreador and President of Toreador Energy France, spoke on behalf of the Partners and made the following points:

• There have been over 2,000 oil wells drilled in the Paris Basin. Toreador is a longstanding French operator and has produced over 5 million barrels of oil in 17 years while fully respecting the environment and the local communities where it operates.
• The concept of hydraulic fracturing in the Paris Basin is not new and the technology itself has 50 years of data and experience supporting its safe application in oil fields around the world.
• Our ‘proof of concept’ exploration program is aimed at determining the type of petroleum resources contained in the tight rock within the Liassic shale in the Paris Basin (depth of between 2,300 and 3,000 meters) as well as their economic potential.

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