Contango Oil & Gas Company and Crimson Exploration Inc. jointly announced that they have signed a merger agreement for an all-stock transaction pursuant to which Crimson would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Contango. Mr. Joseph Romano will serve as Chairman of the board of directors and Chairman of the newly-created Investment Committee of the board of directors of the combined company. Mr. Allan D. Keel will become President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Investment Committee and Mr. E. Joseph Grady will become Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the combined company.

Mr. Keel and Mr. Grady each have signed employment agreements that are subject to the closing of the transaction. It is expected that all of the Crimson senior management team will join Contango in positions similar to those they currently hold at Crimson. The board of directors of the combined company will consist of eight directors, five of whom will be selected by Contango and three of whom will be selected by Crimson.

Brad Juneau will continue to be a member of the board and will continue to generate GoM prospects for the combined company through Juneau Exploration L.P.