Release: Niko Resources adds Indonesian exploration acreage

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - May 6, 2009) - Niko Resources Ltd. is pleased to announce that the Indonesian government has awarded Niko and its partners three additional offshore exploration blocks. Each of the blocks is approximately 1.2 million acres.

- The first block, Kofiau, is offshore west Papua and will be operated by Niko who will hold a 66.67% interest. The block is located in a geological setting similar to the nearby Salawati Basin where in excess of 500 million barrels of oil are discovered in Miocene carbonates.

- The second, Kumawa, is offshore southwest Papua. Marathon will operate with the Company holding a 25% interest. The primary exploration targets are large structured traps with Jurassic age fluvial sandstones, which in the Bintuni basin located in west Papua hold over 17 TCF of discovered gas.

- The third, Cendrawasih is located offshore northwest Papua in Cendrawasih Bay. Exxon will operate with Niko holding a 25% interest. The primary exploration targets are large Miocene age carbonate reefs.

Country Summary
When combined with previously announced acreage, as summarized below, the company now has an interest in 8 deepwater exploration blocks in various offshore basins. All blocks are managed by Production Sharing Contracts with favorable deepwater exploration terms.

Block Name	Offshore Area	Award Date	NIKO Interest	Block Area Acres
				Gross	Net
West Sageri (i)	Makassar Strait	November-08	51%	1,229,800	627,131
SE Ganal I (i)	Makassar Strait	November-08	51%	1,202,866	613,541
Seram	Seram North	November-08	25%	1,233,259	308,377
South Matindok	Sulewasi NE	November-08	25%	1,280,455	320,237
Bone Bay	Sulewasi SW	November-08	25%	1,227,823	306,894
Kofiau (i)	West Papua	May-09	67%	1,235,483	824,067
Kumawa	Papua SW	May-09	25%	1,236,471	309,118
Cendrawasih	Papua NW	May-09	25%	1,233,259	308,377
Avg			37%	9,879,170	3,617,494
Note: (i) NIKO operated

Most of the blocks are found near-by prolific petroleum fields and share similar geological and geophysical attributes. The majority of the blocks are located in Eastern Indonesia that is emerging as an under-explored petroleum region with early stage success as exemplified by the Tangguh gas fields (17 TCF) located in West Papua.

The bid for each block includes a signature bonus, seismic and one well. Niko's share of these costs for all 8 blocks is approximately USD $115 million. Niko expects that seismic operations will begin for all the 8 blocks during the current year. (end of release)