East West Petroleum Corp. announced in a news release that following publication in the Official Gazette of Romania the company has received formal ratification of the remaining three blocks awarded in the Romania 2010 10th bid bound.

The Baile Felix (EX-3), Periam (EX-7), and Biled (EX-8) have now been officially passed into law. With these three blocks, and the Tria (Ex 2) block ratified in December 2012, the company's active gross acreage position in Romania is now approximately one million acres, the release said. According to the terms of the October 2011 farm-out agreement with Naftna Industrija Srbije Novi Sad (NIS), NIS will earn an 85% interest by contributing 100% of the costs through the mandatory Phase 1 and optional Phase 2 exploration periods. East West will retain a 15% carried interest across all blocks through Phase 1 and Phase 2.

The minimum Phase 1 exploration mandatory program across all four blocks includes the acquisition and interpretation of 2-D and 3-D seismic data and the drilling of three wells per block, for 12 wells in total over the next two years. Seismic acquisition is currently underway on the Tria concession in preparation for drilling of the three commitment wells, with seismic acquisition to commence shortly on Baile Felix, Periam, and Biled, the release said. NIS and the company will be targeting conventional reservoirs using conventional technology and will not be targeting shale formations.