EXHIBIT 99.1
(MERIDIAN RESOURCE CORPORATION LOGO) NEWS
THE MERIDIAN RESOURCE CORPORATION ANNOUNCES OFFERING
OF SHARES OF COMMON STOCK
Houston, Texas - July 21, 2004 - The Meridian Resource Corporation (NYSE: TMR)
("Meridian") today announced that it intends to offer 12 million shares of its
common stock under Meridian's shelf registration statement, and will grant to
the underwriters an over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional 1.8
million shares of its common stock. Meridian will use a portion of the net
proceeds from the offering to accelerate planned capital expenditures for
drilling activities and related pipeline construction and to repay borrowings
under Meridian's senior secured credit facility.
In addition, Meridian will use the net proceeds from the sale of 6,000,000
shares of its common stock initially being sold, and from the sale of the
initial 1,082,030 shares sold pursuant to the underwriters' over-allotment
option, if any, to repurchase and retire up to all of the 7,082,030 shares
beneficially owned by Shell Oil Company ("Shell"). Meridian and Shell have
entered into a share repurchase agreement whereby the Company will repurchase
the shares held by an affiliate of Shell at a purchase price per share equal to
the net proceeds per share that Meridian receives in the offering after
deducting underwriting discounts and commissions.
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., Inc. is serving as sole book-running and joint
lead manager and A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. is serving as joint lead manager for
the offering. A preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the public
offering has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. When
available, copies of the preliminary prospectus for the offering may be obtained
from the offices of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. Inc. at 1001 19th Street N,
Arlington, Virginia 22209 and from the office of A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. at
One North Jefferson St. Louis, Missouri 63103.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of
an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale or these securities in any state in
which such offer, solicitation or sale of these securities would be unlawful
prior to registration or qualification under securities law of any such state.
The Meridian Resource Corporation is an independent oil and natural gas company
engaged in the exploration, exploitation and development of oil and natural gas
onshore in south Louisiana and the Texas Gulf Coast, and offshore in the Gulf of
Mexico. Meridian has access to an extensive inventory of seismic data for its
targeted areas and owns rights to mineral leases in its existing project areas,
including 175,000 net acres of leases and options relating to its Biloxi
Marshlands project in south Louisiana. Meridian is headquartered in Houston,
Texas, and has a field office in Weeks Island, Louisiana.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT AND DISCLAIMER
Statements identified by the words "expects," "projects," "plans," and certain
of the other foregoing statements may be deemed "forward-looking statements."
Although Meridian believes that the expectations reflected in such
forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual future activities and results to be
materially different from those suggested or described in this press release.
These include risks inherent in the drilling of oil and natural gas wells,
including risks of fire, explosion, blowout, pipe failure, casing collapse,
unusual or unexpected formation pressures, environmental hazards, and other
operating and production risks inherent in oil and natural gas drilling and
production activities, which may temporarily or permanently reduce production or
cause initial production or test results to not be indicative of future well
performance or delay the timing of sales or completion of drilling operations;
risks with respect to oil and natural gas prices, a material decline in which
could cause the Company to delay or suspend planned drilling operations or
reduce production levels; and risks relating to the availability of capital to
fund drilling operations that can be adversely affected by adverse drilling
results, production declines and declines in oil and gas prices.
These and other risks are described in the Company's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including its reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
John Collins at (281)-597-7000
Meridian Resource Corporation Website: www.tmrc.com
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1401 Enclave Parkway, Suite 300 o Houston, Texas 77077
(281) 597-7000 o Fax (281) 558-5744 o www.tmrc.com
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