HOUSTON – BPZ Resources Inc. (NYSE: BPZ) has placed the Corvina oil field, located in offshore Block Z-1 in northwest Peru, into commercial production. The company has started operating the gas compressor at the CX-11 Corvina platform to re-inject the associated gas and thus avoid gas flaring. The company is now in the process of reopening the Corvina oil wells that were shut-in due to gas flaring restrictions.

Richard Spies, COO commented, "This is a great achievement for our operations team and the Company in general, as it proves that with proper planning and execution our team can meet key milestones." 

Manolo Zuniga, president and CEO added, "The Corvina oil field is our first field on commercial production. Our investors have been watching for us to execute on this milestone, and I am pleased at our team's commitment to meeting the announced schedule. We are currently working on the future development of Corvina, and committed to installing the required gas re-injection equipment at Albacora so we may bring our second oil field into commercial production by year end 2011." 

Shares of the company were up +0.5800 (+14.72%) at US$4.52 late Wednesday morning. The company stock has been up nearly 18% recently, up to $4.65.