EXHIBIT 99.1

                       AMERICAN NATURAL ENERGY CORPORATION
                           6100 South Yale, Suite 300
                              Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136
                       Tel: 918-481-1440 Fax: 918-481-1473



         AMERICAN NATURAL ENERGY CORPORATION ANNOUNCES DRILLING RESULTS

TULSA, OKLAHOMA, OCTOBER 18, 2004. American Natural Energy Corporation ("ANEC")
(TSX Venture: ANR.U) announced that the ExxonMobil Fee 2 ST well is being
plugged and abandoned as a result of mechanical problems arising from drilling
tools dropped in the hole and irretrievably lost during the final phases of
drilling to a total measured depth of approximately 10,830 feet. ANEC had
encountered what it believed were potentially productive horizons from
approximately 10,700 feet to 10,790 feet total measured depth.

The ExxonMobil Fee 2 ST was a re-drill of the ExxonMobil Fee 2 which was drilled
in the first quarter of 2004 to a total measured depth of approximately 11,530
feet. The original wellbore experienced mechanical problems resulting in the
current sidetracking operation. ANEC is evaluating the possibility of drilling
an additional well from a new surface location to test potential horizons that
were encountered in the original well below a total measured depth of
approximately 11,000 feet.

Additionally, Mr. Gerry Curtis was elected to the Board of Directors of ANEC on
October 18, 2004 to fill a vacancy on the Board resulting from the death of Mr.
John Fleming in March 2004. Mr. Curtis is a resident of Bermuda.

ANEC is a Tulsa, Oklahoma based independent exploration and production company
with operations in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. For further information please
contact Michael Paulk, CEO at 918-481-1440 or Steven P. Ensz, CFO at
281-367-5588.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This Press Release may contain statements which constitute forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and
current expectations of ANEC, its directors, or its officers with respect to the
future business, well drilling and operating activities and performance of ANEC.
Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that
actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking
statements as a result of various factors, including, among others, the levels
of and fluctuations

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in the prices for natural gas and oil and the demand for those commodities and
the outcome of ANEC's development and exploration activities, including the
success of its current and proposed well drilling activities and the
availability of capital to pursue those activities. Important additional factors
that could cause such differences are described in ANEC's periodic reports and
other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission and may be viewed
at the Commission's Website at http://www.sec.gov.

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