American International Industries Inc. Announces Sale by Its Subsidiary Delta Seaboard Well Service Inc. of Certain Drilling Rigs.

Energy Editors/Business Editors

KEMAH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 2004

American International Industries Inc. (OTCBB:AMIN) today announced that Delta Seaboard Well Service Inc. ("Delta") based in Houston, Texas, a subsidiary of American International Industries Inc., completed the sale of rig # 10 for $1,000,000, including $700,000 in cash and $300,000 in a short term secured promissory note. The company is presently negotiating for the sale of rigs # 9, 12, 14, 16, 18, and two barges for additional consideration of $10,000,000. The consideration expected from the sale of these rigs will be substantially higher than the value of the rigs carried on the books of the company. Delta's management decided to sell all of their "wet works" in Louisiana and continue to sell drilling pipe in its Louisiana subsidiary. Delta's home office in Houston, Texas, will continue to operate its six land rigs, which are presently operating at 100% capacity.

Mr. Daniel Dror, CEO of AMIN, stated, "Due to relatively high prices of oil and gas at this time the drilling activities in the Texas Gulf Coast have been very active and Delta's backlog work is substantial. Delta is presently discussing other potential acquisitions of other companies in its field."

American International Industries Inc. is a growing holding company. The Company has holdings in industry, finance, real estate and oil & gas. The vision of the Company is to develop holdings in various industries through acquisition of existing companies, applying the financial resources and management expertise to foster the growth and profitability of the acquired businesses. The holding company serves as a financial and professional partner to the management of the subsidiaries. The role of the holding company is to improve each subsidiary's access to capital, achieve economics of scale by consolidating administrative functions, and utilize the financial and management expertise of corporate personnel across all units. The Company is continuing to work with management of the subsidiary companies to improve revenues, operations and profitability. Periodically as opportunities present themselves, we may sell or merge the subsidiaries in order to bring value to the holding company and our shareholders and to enable the Company to acquire larger companies.

Private Securities Litigation Reform Act Safe Harbor Statement:

The matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, that involve risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical information provided herein may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that we may anticipate in each of our segments reflected by our subsidiaries' operations include without limitations, continued acceptance of the Company's products and services, increased levels of competition, new products and technology changes, the dependence upon financing, third party suppliers and intellectual property rights, the rules of regulatory authorities and risks associated with any acquisitions. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's analysis, judgment, belief or expectation only as of the date hereof.