VANCOUVER, Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - TAG Oil Ltd. (TSX: TAO) (OTCQX: TAOIF), reports that the Company intends to launch a normal course issuer bid (bid) to purchase up to 5,586,926 of its common shares through the facilities of TSX, subject to TSX acceptance.

The purchase of common shares under the bid will enable the Company to acquire its shares for cancellation. TAG believes that the market price of the Company's common shares may not reflect their underlying value and that the purchase of common shares for cancellation will increase the proportionate interest of, and will be advantageous to, all remaining shareholders.

There have been 67,300 common share purchased and cancelled under a normal course issuer bid by TAG within the past twelve months at an average weighted purchase price of $5.91 per common share.

Currently, TAG has 59,755,123 common shares issued and outstanding. The common shares that may be repurchased over a twelve-month period represent approximately 10% of TAG's 55,869,262 outstanding common shares in the public float. TAG has appointed Macquarie Private Wealth Inc. as the Participating Organization that will be conducting the bid on behalf of TAG with purchases under the bid being able to commence on December 10, 2012 and will terminate on December 9, 2013, or on such earlier date as the bid is complete. The average daily trading volume of the common shares for the previous six calendar months (ADTV) was 166,548 common shares. The amount and timing of such purchases will be determined by TAG and, in accordance with TSX policies, on any trading day, the amount of daily purchases may not exceed 25% of the ADTV or 41,637 common shares.

TAG Oil Ltd.

TAG Oil Ltd. (http://www.tagoil.com/) is a Canadian-based production and exploration company with operations focused exclusively in New Zealand. With 100% ownership over all its core assets, including oil and gas production infrastructure, TAG is enjoying substantial oil and gas production and reserve growth through development of several light oil and gas discoveries. TAG is also actively drilling high-impact exploration prospects identified across more than 2,953,810 net acres of land in New Zealand.

In the East Coast Basin, TAG has entered into a farm-out agreement with Apache Corporation to explore and potentially develop the major unconventional resource potential believed to exist in the tight oil source-rock formations that are widespread over the Company's acreage. These oil-rich and naturally fractured formations have many similarities to North America's Bakken source-rock formation in the successful Williston Basin.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainty affecting the business of TAG. Such statements can generally, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "forecasts", "schedules", "prepares", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur.

All estimates and statements that describe the Company's objectives, goals, or future plans relating to the bid are forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and necessarily involve risks and uncertainties Actual results may vary materially from the information provided in this release, and there is no representation by TAG that the actual results realized in the future will be the same in whole or in part as those presented herein.

Other factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements are also set forth in filings that TAG and its independent evaluator have made, including TAG's most recently filed reports in Canada under National Instrument 51-101, which can be found under TAG's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

TAG undertakes no obligation, except as otherwise required by law, to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors change.

SOURCE TAG Oil Ltd.