CALGARY, March 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Ivanhoe Energy Inc. IVAN today issued an early warning report, pursuant to the early warning requirements of National Instrument 62-103 with respect to the common shares in the capital of Ivanhoe Energy (the "Common Shares").

In accordance with the early warning requirements, applicable Canadian securities laws and prior releases and filings by Ivanhoe Energy, Ivanhoe Energy is required to report certain information respecting securities held by Robert M. Friedland ("Mr. Friedland").

Pursuant to an amending agreement, dated March 14, 2012, amongst Ivanhoe Capital Finance Ltd. ("Ivanhoe Capital") and Ivanhoe Energy, which amended that certain loan agreement, dated December 30, 2011, Mr. Friedland acquired, indirectly through his wholly-owned corporation, Ivanhoe Capital, the right to convert, at any time prior to maturity of the loan, the then outstanding principal into Common Shares at a conversion rate of one whole Common Share for each CAD$0.96 of principal amount then outstanding, subject to customary adjustments (the "Conversion Right").  The conversion price of CAD$0.96 was calculated with reference to the volume weighted average trading price of the Common Shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange for the five consecutive trading days preceding March 12, 2012.  The exercise of the Conversion Right may result in up to 10,484,375 Common Shares being issued to Ivanhoe Capital, which would represent 2.96% of the outstanding Common Shares (taking account of the conversion).

The Conversion Right was granted as consideration for the subordination of an existing loan to a new third party facility and no new proceeds were received by Ivanhoe Energy.

As of March 16, 2012, Ivanhoe Energy had outstanding 348,972,761 Common Shares, which number includes those securities held by Mr. Friedland which are convertible into Common Shares within 60 days.  Mr. Friedland currently, directly and indirectly, owns 54,045,058 Common Shares, representing approximately 15.49% of the issued share capital of Ivanhoe Energy.  If the Conversion Right is exercised for the maximum amount permissible, it will result in Mr. Friedland owning 64,529,433 Common Shares, representing approximately 17.95% of the issued capital, taking account of the conversion.  The values reported with respect to Mr. Friedland's holdings in Ivanhoe Energy reflect Common Shares currently held by him and those securities convertible into Common Shares within 60 days.  The transaction occurred by private agreement.

For further information and to obtain a copy of the early warning report filed under applicable Canadian provincial securities legislation in connection with the transactions hereunder please go to the Ivanhoe Energy profile on SEDAR website www.sedar.com or visit Ivanhoe Energy's website at www.ivanhoeenergy.com, or contact the company at: +1.403.261.1700.

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.