MOECO divests certain U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil & gas assets

November 24, 2009 Project

Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd. ("MOECO", Head office: Hibiya Central Bldg. 2-9, Nishi Shimbashi 1-Chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan/ President: Mr. Yoshiyuki Kagawa) announces that its affiliated company, MitEnergy Upstream LLC, has entered into a purchase and sale agreement on November 20, 2009 to divest all of its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas assets to Energy XXI, Inc.

MOECO will reinvest the sale proceeds to other high growth potential opportunities in order to build a more robust and balanced business portfolio.