China North East Petroleum Announces Dismissal of Securities Class Actions

HARBIN, China and NEW YORK, October 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- China North East Petroleum Holdings Limited (the "Company") (NYSE Amex: NEP), a leading independent oil producing and oilfield services company in Northern China, today announced that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has dismissed the three consolidated securities class actions pending against NEP and certain of its current and former officers and directors.

Plaintiffs filed the three class actions in June and July 2010. After the Court consolidated the three actions, plaintiffs filed a consolidated securities class action complaint on January 14, 2011, in which they asserted securities fraud based on the circumstances that led to the 2010 restatements of the Company's 2008 10-Qs and 10-K and 2009 10-Qs. In response, the served defendants, including the Company, each filed a motion to dismiss the class actions, demonstrating several grounds for dismissal. After briefing and oral arguments, the Honorable Miriam Cedarbaum, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, on October 6, 2011, ordered that the consolidated actions be dismissed as to all defendants and the case closed. The Clerk of the Court entered judgment of dismissal on October 11, 2011. The Company understands that plaintiffs may appeal.

This dismissal comes on the heels of the dismissal on May 23, 2011 of three shareholder derivative actions that are based on the same circumstances as the class actions and an order denying a subsequent motion to re-open the case on July 8, 2011. An appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the derivative actions is pending.

Mr. Jingfu Li, CEO of China North East Petroleum commented, "We are very pleased with the ruling. The dismissal will allow the Company to put the distractions of both litigation matters behind us and allows us to continue our focus on building shareholder value."

ABOUT CHINA NORTH EAST PETROLEUM

China North East Petroleum Holdings Limited is an independent oil company that engages in the production of crude oil in Northern China. The Company is a pioneer in China's private oil exploration and production industry, and the first Chinese non-state-owned oil company trading on the NYSE Amex.

The Company has a guaranteed arrangement with the PetroChina to sell its produced crude oil for use in the China marketplace. The Company currently operates five oilfields in Northern China. The Company also recently obtained exploration and drilling rights in the Durimu oilfield through its acquisition of Sunite Right Banner Shengyuan Oil and Gas Technology Development Co., Ltd. ("Shengyuan"). For more information about the Company, please visit http://www.cnepetroleum.com.

Statements in this press release, including but not limited to those relating to the Company's or management's intentions, beliefs, expectations, hopes, projections, assessment of risks, estimations, plans or predictions for the future, including the impact of the restatement, timing of filings with the SEC and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations. Statements regarding our ability to realize future production volumes, realize success in our drilling and development activity and forecasts of legal claims, prices, future revenues and income and cash flows and other statements that are not historical facts contain predictions, estimates and other forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include delays and uncertainties that may be encountered in connection with seismic testing and test drilling in the Durimu oilfield, the anticipated benefits from the acquisition cannot be fully realized, the possibility that costs or difficulties related to the development of the Durimu oilfield will be greater than expected, and other risks described in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and its other filings with the SEC. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual outcomes may vary materially from those indicated. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement and the Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement.