VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/31/12 -- Vanoil Energy Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:VEL) ("Vanoil" or the "Company") has closed its non-brokered private placement (the "NB Offering"), announced on December 11 2012, issuing 7,450,549 units (the "NB Units") of the Company at a price of $0.60 per NB Unit for total gross proceeds of $4,470,329. Each NB Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a "Share") and one whole non-transferable share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one Share at a price of $1.00 for a period of 24 months following closing. The Warrant will be subject to accelerated expiry if, at any time after the date that is four months and one day of the closing, the Company's Shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") at a price of $1.50 or more for the preceding 20 consecutive trading days.

No finder fees were paid in connection with the private placement. The securities issued pursuant to the NB Offering will be subject to a four month hold period expiring May 1, 2013.

About Vanoil Energy Ltd.

Based in Vancouver, Canada, Vanoil is an internationally diversified resource company that has a portfolio of oil and gas assets in the African countries of Kenya and Rwanda. In Kenya, Blocks 3A and 3B were acquired in October 2007 through the signing of a Production Sharing Contract with the Government of the Republic of Kenya. Blocks 3A and 3B, which cover 24,912 square kilometers, potentially contain prospective resources in excess of 900 million boe, positioned between Tullow's recent oil discovery and Apache's offshore gas well. Vanoil's 1,631 square kilometers of oil and gas exclusive licence in the East Kivu Graben in Rwanda is at the southern extension of the Albertine Graben where Heritage and Tullow Oil made their historic discovery in neighbouring Uganda.

On behalf of the Board of VANOIL ENERGY LTD.

Aaron D'Este, President and CEO

To find out more about Vanoil please visit our website at www.vanoil.ca.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.