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EXHIBIT 99.1
Toreador Royalty Corporation Approves Name Change to Toreador Resources
Corporation; Joins Phillips Coal Company in Historic Mississippi Lignite Project
DALLAS, June 1 -- Toreador Royalty Corporation (Nasdaq: TRGL) announced today
that its Board of Directors approved a change of the Company's name to Toreador
Resources Corporation at its recent shareholders meeting. The name change more
accurately reflects the Company's growing presence as a manager of a portfolio
of natural resource assets. Toreador owns and manages natural resource positions
that are prospective for oil, gas, coal, sulfur, aggregate and other minerals.
The Company is currently completing all legal and regulatory requirements
related to a change of corporate name.
Tom Graves, Toreador's president and chief executive officer said, "over the
past several years, we have found that many people associate the use of the word
royalty in a corporate name to identify a company as a 'royalty trust' as
opposed to a fully functioning C corporation."
Toreador is an active manager, with an increasingly larger portfolio of mineral
and exploration assets. The Company has made a strategic decision not to be
"operator" properties in which it owns an interest and to not be a prospect
"generator" because it believes the interests of its shareholders are better
served by eliminating the overhead expense associated with these activities.
Nonetheless, Toreador actively buys and sells properties and participates in oil
and gas exploration projects throughout the United States.
As a result of Toreador's exposure to diverse natural resource opportunities,
the Company has just executed a coal lease with Mississippi Lignite Mining
Company, a joint venture between Phillips Coal Company and The North America
Coal Corporation. As a result, Toreador will be participating in the first
commercial coal mine in the State of Mississippi.
The Red Hills Mine is located in Choctaw County near the town of Ackerman. The
mine will supply the Red Hills Power Project under the terms of a 30 year
contract with the TVA. Toreador has an extensive mineral position in areas that
could be added to Red Hills Mine in the future. Commercial operation of the Red
Hills Mine will begin in December 2000. The Company is currently evaluating its
mineral positions that may be perspective for coal in the light of this recent
development.
Toreador owns perpetual oil and gas mineral and royalty interests in
approximately 2.6 million gross acres or 1.4 million net acres located primarily
in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi,
Montana and Texas. In addition, the Company owns working interests primarily in
Texas, Kansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Contact: G. Thomas Graves III, President and Chief Executive Officer
Edward C. Marhanka, Vice President-Operations Douglas W. Weir,
Vice President-Finance and Treasurer 214-559-3933 or
800-966-2141
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Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in
this news release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Business plans included herein may change as
circumstances warrant. Risk factors and additional information are included in
the Company's reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
