Proceeds to energize short-term project activities

Note: All figures are quoted in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

CALGARY, March 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Ivanhoe Energy Inc. IVAN today announced it entered into a $50 million short-term secured credit agreement consisting of an initial tranche of $30 million, fully underwritten by UBS AG, Canada Branch.  The agreement also contains a $20 million accordion feature that can be exercised by the company, if required.

The loan, which was exclusively arranged by UBS Securities, will mature after 12 months and involves customary terms and covenants for a transaction of this nature.

"Ivanhoe Energy has established this short-term loan as an interim measure while we finalize longer term arrangements, currently underway, that are applicable and appropriate for our projects. This loan will fund activities in Ecuador, China, Mongolia, Canada and other selected areas of business development," said President and Chief Operating Officer, David Dyck.

Ivanhoe Energy is an independent international heavy oil exploration and development company focused on pursuing long-term growth in its reserves and production. Core operations are in Canada, Ecuador, China and Mongolia, with business development opportunities worldwide. Ivanhoe Energy trades on The Toronto Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol IE and on the NASDAQ Capital Market with the ticker symbol IVAN.

For more information about Ivanhoe Energy please visit www.ivanhoeenergy.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This document includes forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the potential benefits of Ivanhoe Energy's heavy oil upgrading technology, the potential for commercialization and future application of the heavy oil upgrading technology and other technologies, statements relating to the continued advancement of Ivanhoe Energy's projects, the potential for successful exploration and development drilling, dependence on new product development and associated costs, statements relating to anticipated capital expenditures, the necessity to seek additional funding, statements relating to increases in production and other statements which are not historical facts. When used in this document, the words such as "could," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "potential," "should," and similar expressions relating to matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements.  Although Ivanhoe Energy believes that its expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include the potential that the Company's projects will experience technological and mechanical problems, new product development will not proceed as planned, the HTL technology to upgrade bitumen and heavy oil may not be commercially viable, geological conditions in reservoirs may not result in commercial levels of oil and gas production, the availability of drilling rigs and other support services, uncertainties about the estimates of reserves, the risk associated with doing business in foreign countries, environmental risks, changes in product prices, our ability to raise capital as and when required, competition and other risks disclosed in Ivanhoe Energy's 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR and the Canadian Securities Commissions on SEDAR.

SOURCE Ivanhoe Energy Inc.