Statement re Rejection of Further Proposal

Immediate Release   30 April 2010





                            Gulfsands Petroleum plc
               GULFSANDS CONTINUES TO REJECT UNSOLICITED APPROACH

The  board of directors  ("the Board") of  Gulfsands Petroleum plc ("Gulfsands",
"the  Company" or "the  Group") announces that,  on 27 April 2010, it received a
reiteration  of  the  original  proposal  from  Oil India Limited and Indian Oil
Corporation Limited (together "the Consortium") following their initial approach
regarding a possible offer for the Company on 18 March 2010.

The  unchanged proposal  remains at  an indicative  offer price of 315 pence per
share  for the  entire issued  and to  be issued  share capital of Gulfsands and
continues  to  be  highly  conditional  and  subject  to due diligence and other
material pre-conditions.

The Board remains unanimously of the view that the proposal is wholly inadequate
and  materially  undervalues  the  Company,  particularly  in  light  of  recent
newsflow, including the 25% increase in the Group's 2P working interest reserves
for the year ended 31 December 2009, announced on 30 March 2010.

Gulfsands  welcomes the  recent decision  by The  Panel on Takeovers and Mergers
setting a deadline of 5pm on 11 May 2010 for the Consortium to either announce a
firm  intention to  make an  offer for  Gulfsands or  announce that  it does not
intend to make an offer for Gulfsands.

Gulfsands  confirms that this announcement has  not been made with the agreement
or  approval of the Consortium.  There can be no certainty that an offer will be
made nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made.

For more information please contact:

 Gulfsands Petroleum (London)               [phone]

 Andrew West, Chairman
 Andrew Rose, Chief Financial Officer



 Buchanan Communications Limited (London)   [phone]

 Bobby Morse
 Ben Romney
 Chris McMahon



 RBC Capital Markets (London)               [phone]

 Josh Critchley
 Tim Chapman
 Matthew Coakes
 Martin Eales



ABOUT GULFSANDS:

Gulfsands is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

Syria

Gulfsands  owns a 50% working interest and is operator of Block 26 in North East
Syria.   The Khurbet  East oil  field was  discovered in June 2007 and commenced
commercial production within 13 months of the discovery. The Yousefieh oil field
was  discovered in November 2008 and  commenced commercial production within 18
months  of discovery. The  combined gross oil  production from both Khurbet East
and  Yousefieh fields  is now  approximately 18,000 barrels  of oil  per day and
utilizes  early production facilities  leased from the  Syria Petroleum Company.
Block  26 covers approximately 8,250 square  kilometres and encompasses existing
fields  which currently  produce over  100,000 barrels of  oil per  day, and are
operated  mainly  by  the  Syrian  Petroleum  Company.   The current exploration
licence  expires  in  August  2010 and  is  extendable  for a further two years.
 Gulfsands' working interest 2P reserves in Syria at 31 December 2009 were 46.0
mmbbls.

Iraq

Gulfsands signed a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2005 with the Ministry
of Oil in Iraq for the Maysan Gas Project in Southern Iraq, following completion
of  a  feasibility  study  on  the  project,  and  is  negotiating  details of a
definitive contract for this regionally important development.  The project will
gather, process and transmit natural gas that is currently a waste by-product of
oil  production  and  as  a  result  of  the  present  practice  of gas flaring,
contributes  to significant environmental  damage in the  region. The Company is
actively  engaged in discussions with respect  to financing and potential equity
partners.  Gulfsands has no reserves in Iraq.

Gulf of Mexico, USA

The  Company  owns  interests  in  37 leases  offshore Texas and Louisiana which
include  24 producing  oil  and  gas  fields  with  proved  and probable working
interest reserves at 31 December 2009 of 4.6 mmboe.

Certain  statements  included  herein  constitute  "forward-looking  statements"
within  the meaning of  applicable securities legislation. These forward-looking
statements  are based on  certain assumptions made  by Gulfsands and as such are
not  a guarantee of  future performance. Actual  results could differ materially
from  those  expressed  or  implied  in  such  forward-looking statements due to
factors  such  as  general  economic  and  market conditions, increased costs of
production or  a decline in oil and gas prices. Gulfsands is under no obligation
to  update or revise any forward-looking statements,  whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

More information can be found on the Company's websitewww.gulfsands.com

Disclosure Requirements of the Takeover Code (the "Code")

Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Code, any person who is interested in 1% or more of any
class  of relevant  securities of  an offeree  company or  of any  paper offeror
(being  any  offeror  other  than  an  offeror  in  respect of which it has been
announced  that its offer is, or  is likely to be, solely  in cash) must make an
Opening  Position Disclosure following the commencement of the offer period and,
if  later,  following  the  announcement  in  which  any  paper offeror is first
identified.  An Opening Position Disclosure must contain details of the person's
interests  and short  positions in,  and rights  to subscribe  for, any relevant
securities  of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any paper offeror(s). An
Opening Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) applies must be made
by  no later than 3.30 pm  (London time) on the  10th business day following the
commencement  of the offer period and, if  appropriate, by no later than 3.30 pm
(London  time) on the 10th business day  following the announcement in which any
paper  offeror is  first identified.  Relevant persons  who deal in the relevant
securities  of the offeree company  or of a paper  offeror prior to the deadline
for   making  an  Opening  Position  Disclosure  must  instead  make  a  Dealing
Disclosure.

Under  Rule 8.3(b) of the Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in 1%
or  more of any  class of relevant  securities of the  offeree company or of any
paper offeror must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant
securities  of the offeree company or of any paper offeror. A Dealing Disclosure
must  contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's interests and
short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each
of  (i) the offeree company and (ii) any  paper offeror, save to the extent that
these  details have previously been disclosed under Rule 8. A Dealing Disclosure
by  a person to whom  Rule 8.3(b) applies must be  made by no later than 3.30 pm
(London time) on the business day following the date of the relevant dealing.

If  two or more persons act together  pursuant to an agreement or understanding,
whether  formal  or  informal,  to  acquire  or  control an interest in relevant
securities of an offeree company or a paper offeror, they will be deemed to be a
single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3.

Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company and by any
offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company, by any
offeror  and  by  any  persons  acting  in  concert  with any of them (see Rules
8.1, 8.2 and 8.4).

Details  of  the  offeree  and  offeror  companies  in respect of whose relevant
securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made can
be   found   in   the   Disclosure   Table   on  the  Takeover  Panel's  website
atwww.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk,  including  details  of  the  number  of relevant
securities  in issue, when the  offer period commenced and  when any offeror was
first identified. If you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make
an  Opening Position Disclosure or a  Dealing Disclosure, you should contact the
Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on [phone].


[HUG#1410292]