Acquisition Approved

Tullow Oil PLC
20 December 2006


Tullow Oil Plc - Hardman Resources acquisition approved

20 December 2006 - Tullow Oil plc (Tullow) announces that on 18 December 2006,
shareholders of Hardman Resources Limited (Hardman) voted in favour of the
acquisition of Hardman by Tullow and that on 19 December 2006, the Federal Court
of Australia approved the Scheme of Arrangement relating to this acquisition.
The Scheme therefore became effective today.


As a result of the Scheme becoming effective, Hardman shares will be suspended
from trading on the Australian Stock Exchange from close of trading today in
Australia and trading of Hardman shares on AIM will be suspended prior to
commencement of today's trading in London.


The Record Date for participation in the Scheme is 2 January 2007 with an
Implementation Date of 10 January 2007.

Commenting today, Aidan Heavey, Chief Executive of Tullow said:

'We are delighted to receive Shareholder and Court Approval for the acquisition
of Hardman. We look forward to the transaction being implemented in early
January and the rapid integration of the Hardman business.  We are very excited
by the material production, development and exploration opportunities this deal
presents.  In particular we are looking forward to accelerating the current
drilling programme in the Albertine Basin in Uganda to build upon the very
encouraging results we have seen there to date'.

For further information contact:

Tullow Oil plc                     Citigate Dewe Rogerson              Murray Consultants
([phone])                 ([phone])                  ([phone])

Tom Hickey                         Martin Jackson                      Joe Murray
Chris Perry


Notes to Editors


Tullow is a leading independent oil & gas, exploration and production group,
quoted on the London and Irish Stock Exchanges (symbol: TLW) and is a
constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The Group has interests in approximately 90
exploration and production licences across 17 countries and focuses on three
core areas: NW Europe, Africa and South Asia.


Tullow's NW Europe interests are primarily focused on gas in the UK Southern
North Sea where it has significant interests in the Caister-Murdoch System and
the Thames/Hewett areas and operates over 60% of its production.


In Africa, Tullow has exploration and production in Gabon, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo
(Brazzaville) and Equatorial Guinea and a large gas field development and
appraisal programme in Namibia. Tullow also has exploration programmes in
Mauritania, Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Madagascar, Angola and
Ghana.


In South Asia, Tullow has exploration and production in Pakistan and Bangladesh
and high impact exploration activities in India.

For further information please refer to our website at www.tullowoil.com

                                      ENDS


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange