Arakis announces nominations to the board of directors.

CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 25, 1997--Arakis Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:AKSEF) is pleased to announce that the following individuals have consented to stand for nomination for election to the board of directors of Arakis Energy Corp. at the company's Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") to be held in Calgary, Alberta on July 30, 1997.

Lutfur Rahman Khan, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, has been a director of Arakis since June 1995. Khan is the founder of State Petroleum Corp. and was the chief executive officer and president of State from November 1991 through May 1994 when it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Arakis.

Khan resumed the position of president and CEO of State in December 1995 following the resignation of the former president. Khan is also a director of Constellation Oil and Gas Limited, a public company engaged in oil and gas exploration and development in Western Canada, chairman and director of Trivalence Mining Corp., a public company primarily engaged in mining ventures in West Africa, and president of Pacwest Resources Limited, a private company engaged in oil and gas exploration and development in Western Canada.

Khan is also chief executive officer and president of Larnite Capital Corp., a private investment company.

Arman Aziz, director and executive Vice president, has been a director of Arakis since December, 1995 and has served as executive Vice president in charge of Finance and Administration of the company since April, 1997. Before moving to Canada in 1980, Aziz was a civil servant in the Federal Government of Pakistan.

He served in many senior positions including Deputy Secretary, Interior and Secretary, National Commission on Industrial Relations. He holds a Masters degree in Literature and previously held an Assistant Professorship at the Punjab University in Pakistan. Aziz was involved in numerous initial negotiations with the Government of the Sudan. Aziz has also been a director of Trivalence Mining Corp. since June, 1995. He also serves as president of Gary Oaks Holdings Ltd., a private holding company.

Dr. Asif Ali Syed, M.D., director, has been a director of Arakis since September 1996. Dr. Syed is a founding member of State Petroleum Corp. and served as its secretary from 1991 to 1994 until it was vended into Arakis. He actively participated in initial negotiations with Sudan for the acquisition of State's concession in 1993. He has invested in the oil business since 1985 and is also a director and secretary of Trivalence Mining Corp.

James B. Taylor, director, has been a director of Arakis since March, 1997. Taylor holds a M.A. degree in Geology and has 33 years of international oilfield experience, recently retiring as executive Vice president, Worldwide Exploration and New Ventures of Occidental Oil & Gas Corp., Bakersfield, California, and Vice president of Occidental Petroleum Corp.

Taylor held many exploration and operations positions in a career spanning 29 years with Occidental including executive Vice president and chief Operating officer of Canadian Occidental Petroleum from 1990 to 1993, a formative period for CanOxy's Yemen project, and was appointed executive Vice president of Occidental's International Operations in 1994.

Charles B. Crowell, LLB, is an attorney and independent oilman with over 15 years experience in the industry. From 1981-1993, Crowell worked with Triton Energy Corp. moving from vice president and general counsel to executive vice president, administration by the time of his departure in 1993.

Crowell has acted as a consultant to the industry and been involved with several entrepreneurial activities since leaving Triton including Enigma Energy Corp., a company which he currently is a part-owner and manager. In 1995, Crowell also founded the firm of Crowell & Bishop where he currently works as a senior partner.

Timothy S. Hoar, B.A., LLB, has 25 years of corporate business and legal experience in the resource industry in western Canada. Hoar graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a degree in law in 1972.

The first 14 years of his career was spent in the oil and gas industry serving in various legal and executive positions with Chevron Canada Ltd., (subsidiary of Chevron Standard, California), Home Oil Company Ltd. and Geocrude Energy Inc. since 1986, Hoar has carried on a practice of law in corporate, securities and natural resource related areas and Since August, 1994 has been a partner in the law firm of Hoar, Lee & Boers. Hoar is a director of Fairline financial International Inc.

James A. Kishpaugh is an independent oil man and business executive with over 25 years of experience in oil and gas operations in the United States and Canada, and in many other areas of the world including South America, Asia, Europe and Africa.

Kishpaugh graduated from North Carolina State University and proceeded to work with Exxon in progressively more responsible positions until 1977 when he became Chairman and CEO of Phoenix Resources Company, a public oil and gas company which traded on NASDAQ.

This company merged into Texas International Company, a New York Stock Exchange company, in 1982 where Kishpaugh continued as chairman and CEO. Under his leadership, Texas International discovered several hundred million barrels of oil. This company went on to merge with Apache Corp.

From 1990 to 1994, Kishpaugh was chairman and CEO of an international company founded in association with Samsung Corp. for the purpose of acquiring energy projects around the world. Currently, Kishpaugh is conducting oil and gas activities primarily through a privately held company, Merlon Petroleum Company based in Houston, Texas, of which he is chairman and CEO.

James W. Barnette, B. SC. Civil Engineering, is president of CoastCon Corp., General Contractors, a company which he founded in 1973. A Registered Professional Engineer, Barnette is a director of American National Bank, a position he has held for the past 10 years. Barnette is Past president of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce; chairman, City of Corpus Christi Ethics Commission; past chairman, City Mechanical Advisory board; and a board member of the Corpus Christi Business Alliance.

Kenneth C. Rutherford, C.A., vice president, finance and chief financial officer, is a chartered accountant with 21 years of financial experience including employment with a major accounting firm and various senior executive positions in the oil and gas industry.

Rutherford is president of Captiva Resource Corp., a private company which has been providing financial consulting services to companies primarily involved in the oil and gas industry since 1993. During the period 1989 to 1993, Rutherford was employed by Opinac Exploration Limited initially in the capacity of controller and later as vice president and controller.

Opinac Exploration Limited was a private oil and gas exploration and production company operating in Western Canada. During the period 1983 to 1989, Rutherford was employed by Deloitte, Haskins and Sells (Deloitte & Touche) as manager providing primarily oil and gas management and consulting services.

During the period 1978 to 1983, Rutherford was employed by Shelter Hydrocarbons Limited in the capacity of secretary treasurer. Rutherford was employed by Deloitte, Haskins & Sells during the period 1975 to 1978 providing audit services to various clients. Rutherford has been a member of the Alberta Institute of Chartered Accountants since 1977.

Rutherford is presently serving as chief financial officer to the company. He has advised the board and management of his intention to participate in the ownership and management of a newly formed private oil and gas company focusing in western Canada. To ensure continuity and allow for a smooth transition to a new chief financial officer, Rutherford has agreed to continue serving as the chief financial officer until the 1997 Annual General Meeting.

Following the Annual General Meeting, Rutherford anticipates dedicating a significant portion of his time to his new business venture. He will, however, in addition to discharging any board responsibilities, assist the new chief financial officer with any transition matters still outstanding.

Khan, Aziz, Syed and Taylor are being nominated to resume their existing positions on the board of directors of the company. Barnette, Crowell, Hoar, Kishpaugh and Rutherford are being nominated to assume additional positions on the board.

The board and management have nominated two directors on behalf of Sands Petroleum AB and State Street Research & Management Company as both of these companies represent significant shareholdings in Arakis. Sands Petroleum AB has nominated Charles B. Crowell and the nominee of State Street Research is James A. Kishpaugh.

At the Meeting, the board and management will propose an amendment to the Articles of the Company to expand the existing board from five to nine seats. The foregoing nominations are made subject to shareholder approval of this amendment to the Articles. The full Information Circular and Proxy Material will be mailed to shareholders on June 27, 1997.

CONTACT: Arakis Energy Corp.

Kristine Dow, 403/263-2471

403/263-8069 (FAX)

www.arakis.com

or

Arakis Energy Corp.

Ron Burrows, 403/263-2471

403/263-8069 (FAX)

www.arakis.com