VANCOUVER, June 9, 2011 /CNW/ - TAG Oil Ltd. (TSX-V: TAO) and (OTCQX: TAOIF) is pleased to report the initial flow testing of the Sidewinder-4 discovery well, the third of four Sidewinder wells to be tested, is now complete. The Sidewinder oil and gas discovery is located in TAG Oil's Petroleum Exploration Permit 38748 in the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand.

The Sidewinder-4 exploration well was drilled to a depth of 1,410 meters (4,626 feet), targeting a fault bounded 3-D anomaly identified in the Mt. Messenger Formation. The well was drilled down-dip of Sidewinder-3 and encountered 19 meters of net oil-and-gas-charged sandstones, with no water column evident. A 4-Point Isochronal test achieved stabilized flow rates of 6.98 million cubic feet per day (~1163 BOE per day) with a 25% drawdown. These results are consistent with the other Sidewinder oil and gas discovery wells tested to date, as summarized below:

Sidewinder Discovery Flow Test Results

Flow testing of the Sidewinder-2 discovery is currently underway. This well encountered the largest net pay of all Sidewinder wells to date, with 47 meters of oil-and-gas bearing sandstones. Five separate zones will be tested, including new zones both above and below the primary Sidewinder discovery zone.

For more information on TAG Oil's Taranaki Basin operations in New Zealand please visit: http://www.tagoil.com/taranaki-basin.asp

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% control over all its core assets, including oil and gas production infrastructure, TAG is anticipating 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 2,712 sections of land in the onshore Taranaki and East Coast Basins of New Zealand's North Island.

In the East Coast Basin, TAG Oil is pursuing the significant unconventional resource potential estimated in the fractured shale source-rock formations that are widespread over the Company's acreage. These oil-rich, naturally fractured and thermally mature source-rock formations have many similarities to North America's Bakken Shale source-rock formation in the successful Williston Basin.

"BOE"s may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A BOE conversion ratio of 6Mcf: 1 Bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead.

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 Oil. All estimates and statements that describe the Company's objectives, goals, or future plans, including the drilling plans and flow testing related to the exploration, testing and development of TAG Oil's Sidewinder-1, Sidewinder-2, Sidewinder-3 and Sidewinder-4 light oil and gas discoveries in the Taranaki Basin of New Zealand are forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and necessarily involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, risks associated with oil and gas exploration, development, exploitation, production, marketing and transportation, volatility of commodity prices, imprecision of reserve estimates, environmental risks, competition from other producers, and changes in the regulatory and taxation environment. These forward-looking statements are based on certain factors and assumptions. Consequently, the Company's actual results may vary materially from the information provided in this release and there is no representation by TAG Oil that actual results realized in the future would be the same in whole or in part as those presented herein.

Additional risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements are set forth in, but are not limited to, filings that the Company and its independent evaluator have made, including the Company's Annual Information Form and its most recent reports in Canada under National Instrument 51-101.

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.