BPZ Energy Closes $4.4 Million Private Placement with IFC.

HOUSTON -- BPZ Resources, Inc. (NYSE Amex:BPZ) announced today that International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Company's largest shareholder, has exercised its preemptive right related to the recently announced February 2009 private placement to purchase 1.4 million shares of the Company's common stock resulting in gross proceeds of approximately $4.4 million. This completes the recently announced February 2009 private placement, bringing the total shares issued in the offering to approximately 15.7 million and the gross proceeds received from the offering to approximately $48 million.

Manolo ZuSiga, BPZ Energy's President and Chief Executive Officer commented, "IFC's support is important as they are our largest shareholder and have done extensive due diligence on the Company. Their participation provides additional funds to continue appraising Corvina and redeveloping Albacora, as well as signaling a vote of confidence to our shareholders."

Additional Information

The shares were issued in the private placement under Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The shares issued are restricted shares and are not eligible for trading until registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The Company filed a registration statement covering the shares on March 31, 2009 and will use its reasonable best efforts to obtain its effectiveness no later than the earlier of (i) 90 days after closing, or in the event of SEC review of the registration statement, 120 days after closing and (ii) the third business day following the date the Company is notified (orally or in writing, whichever is earlier) by the SEC that the registration statement will not be reviewed or is no longer subject to further review. Following the closing of this private placement, the Company has 94,486,094 shares of common stock issued and outstanding, with fully diluted shares of 98,380,442, respectively. The fully diluted shares include the potential effect of vested and unvested options, and restricted stock outstanding.

About BPZ Energy

Houston based BPZ Energy is an oil and gas exploration and production company which has exclusive license contracts for oil and gas exploration and production covering approximately 2.4 million acres in four properties in northwest Peru. It also owns a minority working interest in a producing property in southwest Ecuador. The Company is currently executing the development of the Corvina oil discovery, the redevelopment of the Albacora oil field, and the exploration of Block XIX, in parallel with, the execution of an integrated gas-to-power strategy, which includes generation and sale of electric power in Peru and the development of a regional gas marketing strategy. The Company's website at www.bpzenergy.com provides additional information about the Company's plans, including photographs and other information with respect to its operations.

Forward Looking Statements

This Press Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward looking statements are based on our current expectations about our company, our properties, our estimates of required capital expenditures and our industry. You can identify these forward-looking statements when you see us using words such as "project", "expect," "will," "indicate," "estimate," "believes," "plans" and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward looking statements. Such uncertainties include the success of our project financing efforts, including final documentation and execution of debt financing documents, accuracy of well test results, and reserves reports, well refurbishment efforts, successful production of indicated reserves, completion of well test-period requirements and the successful management of our capital development project, and other normal business risks. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or other events occur in the future. We caution you not to place undue reliance on those statements.