Vancouver, British Columbia, December 23, 2014. Newport Exploration Ltd. ("Newport" or "the Company") is pleased to provide a further update on developments on PEL 91 in the Cooper Basin, Australia which is subject to the Company's 2.5% gross overriding royalty.

Bauer-18

As reported in a previous news release by the Company (dated December 4th, 2014), Bauer-16,-17, and -19 were all cased and suspended as future oil producers. Drillsearch Energy Ltd ("Drillsearch") have reported that Bauer -18 has since been completed and has also been cased and suspended as a future producer.

Balgowan Field 2P Reserves Estimation

In a news release dated August 13th, 2014, the Company advised that the Balgowan-1 exploration well in PEL 91 confirmed expectations of an oil fairway extension to the north-east of recent discoveries by intersecting a gross oil interval of approximately nine metres. Of this, 3.5 metres of net pay was encountered in the Namur Sandstone and two metres of net pay in the overlaying McKinlay Member. Based on these results, Balgowan-1 was cased and suspended as a future McKinlay Member / Namur Sandstone oil producer. In a news release dated December 23rd, 2014, Beach Energy Ltd ("Beach") has subsequently reported estimated 2P gross reserves for the Balgowan field of 344 thousand barrels of oil ("kbbl").

Beach also report that commercial productivity of the McKinlay Member and Namur Sandstone reservoirs is proven in offset fields within PEL 91 and that the Balgowan field is analogous to commercially producing fields in PEL 91, including Bauer, Chiton, and Hanson. As such, Beach has a high degree of confidence in the commercial productivity of the McKinlay Member / Namur Sandstone reservoirs at Balgowan. Beach believes that the Balgowan field can be developed via a four kilometre flowline to transport formation fluid to the proposed Stunsail facility. Following processing at the Stunsail facility, oil will be transported via the proposed 19 km Stunsail to Bauer flowline, or trucked directly to the Lycium hub as required. The proposed Stunsail facility is expected on-line by July 2015, with the tie-in of Balgowan-1 expected at that time.

Using the proposed development model, Beach estimates preliminary gross undeveloped reserves from the McKinlay Member / Namur Sandstone reservoirs as follows:

Reserves (kbbl)	Balgowan
1P	86
2P	344
3P	1,530

The Reserve classification system being used by Beach for Reserve Estimation is governed by the "Reserves and Resources Disclosure Rules For Mining and Oil and Gas Companies" as required by the Australian Securities Exchange Rules and in compliance with the Petroleum Resources Management System ("SPE-PRMS") definitions and guidelines-an internationally recognized Reserve Classification System for Oil and Gas Properties. The Company does not have access to the underlying technical data and cannot independently verify the Oil and Gas Reserves and Resources in accordance with classification requirements in compliance with NI 51-101 and the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook ("COGEH"). Accordingly, as the Reserves and Resources for PEL 91 as reported by Beach are not necessarily compliant with NI 51-101 Canadian reporting requirements, they should not be relied upon.

The areal configuration of the Balgowan McKinlay Member and Namur Sandstone structures is based on interpretation and mapping of the Aquillus and Caseolus 3D seismic volumes, with oil column heights defined from wireline log analysis. The range of input petrophysical parameters was derived following comparison of Balgowan-1 well data to analogous reservoir data at commercial fields within PEL 91. Based on this analysis, Beach have determined that the reservoir is discovered and commercially viable.

Burners-1

On 15th October 2014, the Company reported on the Burners-1 exploration discovery, which intersected one metre of net pay in the Namur Sandstone and a five metre oil bearing gross interval in the overlying McKinlay Member. Beach report that a drill stem test over the McKinlay Member (1,411 metres to 1,418 metres) recovered 5.1 barrels of oil from a four hour flowing period. Due to the limited flow rate and net pay intersected in Burners-1, Beach report that the well is not scheduled for development this financial year. Burners-1 has been cased and suspended and will be considered for future tie-in to the proposed Stunsail production facility.

The recent drilling campaign on PEL 91 has delivered six successful development wells at Bauer and two oil discoveries at Balgowan-1 and Burners-1.

The Company continues to strongly encourage shareholders and potential investors to access information released independently by Beach and Drillsearch in order to keep current during an active period in the exploration and development of these permits.

For further information contact:

Ian Rozier, Director and Chief Executive Officer

www.newport-exploration.com

www.beachenergy.com.au

www.drillsearch.com

Neither the 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 accuracy or adequacy of this news release.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

This news release, which contains certain forward-looking statements, is intended to provide readers with a reasonable basis for assessing the financial performance of the Company. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. The words "believe", "should", "could", "expect", "anticipate", "contemplate", "target", "plan", "intends", "continue", "budget", "estimate", "may", "will", "schedule" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements pertain to assumptions regarding the price of oil, fluctuations in currency markets (specifically the Australian dollar and the U.S. dollar), the future funding of the Company's projects, and the future development of the Company's projects. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, which considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the risk of fluctuations in the assumed exchange rates of currencies that directly impact the Company, such as the Canadian dollar, Australian dollar and U.S. dollar, the risk of fluctuations in the assumed prices of oil, the risk of changes in government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada, the United States, Australia or other countries in which the Company carries or may carry on business in the future, risks associated with developmental activities, the speculative nature of exploration and development, including the risk of obtaining necessary licences and permits, and assumed quantities or grades of reserves. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect the Company's actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those acknowledged in such statements.

The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable laws.