UPDATE: Harvest Natural Resources Reports Termination of Deal to Sell Remaining Interests in Venezuela

Harvest Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: HNR) (Harvest or the Company) today announced that the Share PurchaseAgreement (SPA) between Petroandina Resources Corporation N.V. (Petroandina),Pluspetrol Resources Corporation B.V. (Pluspetrol), Harvest and HNR EnergiaB.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvest, for the purchase of Harvest'sremaining interests in Venezuela for a purchase price of $275.0 million incash has been terminated as a result of the failure to obtain approval of thetransaction from the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela byDecember 31, 2014.Representatives of the Venezuelan Government and Corporacion Venezolana delPetroleo S.A. (CVP), a PDVSA affiliate who along with another PDVSA affiliateowns a 60% interest in Petrodelta, informed Harvest and Petroandina that anyapproval of the contemplated transaction would be conditioned on Petroandinaguaranteeing (i) an unspecified bonus payment for access to Petrodelta'sreserves and (ii) $1.52 billion of financing for Petrodelta. Neither of theseconditions exists as contractual obligations related to ownership inPetrodelta and ultimately Petroandina and the Venezuelan Government could notreach an agreement on those matters.Harvest and Petroandina signed the SPA on December 16, 2013, and closing ofthe transaction had been subject to, among other things, approval by theCompany's stockholders and the Government of the Bolivarian Republic ofVenezuela. On May 7, 2014, the Company's stockholders approved the sale ofthe Company's remaining interests in Venezuela to Petroandina.As a result of the termination of the SPA, Harvest will retain its 20.4%interest in Petrodelta and Petroandina will retain its 11.6% interest inPetrodelta, which it had purchased from Harvest for $125 million in cash onDecember 16, 2013.James A. Edmiston, President and CEO of Harvest, said: "After three years ofour best efforts, we are both disappointed and frustrated that the sale of ourinterests in Petrodelta has once again been effectively denied by theGovernment of Venezuela and CVP. As a result of this development, in the nearterm, Harvest will focus on strengthening its balance sheet and exploringalternatives with regard to our interests in Petrodelta and Gabon. Theseactions may include efforts to monetize our Dussafu asset."