TransAmerican Acquires Shale Gas and Gas Prospective Lands Along Side and Within the St-Lawrence River and on Anticosti Island

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 15, 2010) - TransAmerican Energy Inc. (TSX VENTURE:TAE)(FRANKFURT:YQJ) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Letter of Intent to acquire (the "Acquisition") a 100% interest in 10 Utica shale oil and gas properties comprising 136,000 acres located in Quebec.

In consideration therefor, the Company has agreed to pay the vendor a $25,000 non-refundable deposit, to be held in trust pending TransAmerican's completion of due diligence. Subject to the Company being satisfied with its due diligence investigation, it will acquire a 100% interest in the property (hereinafter called the "Lacasse Property") by paying the vendor $225,000 cash (inclusive of the deposit).

The Company has further agreed to grant the vendor a 2% overriding royalty consistent with those generally applicable in the oil and gas extraction/production industry, payable on commencement of commercial production revenues from the property. The Company will also pay a cash finder's fee of $11,250 in connection with the acquisition on closing of the Acquisition.

The Quebec Utica Shale

Questerre Energy Corp. reported that it believes the entire Quebec Utica shale region could hold potentially up to 20 trillion cubic feet of gas (TCF) with initial production rates of up to 12 MMCF per day with the typical decline rates for tight gas reservoirs (Globe & Mail Report on Business article published February 23, 2010). From 2006 through 2009 24 wells, both vertical and horizontal, were drilled to test the Utica. Positive gas flow test results have been reported, although none of the wells had been put on production at the end of 2009. There is no certainty that similar results will be obtained on the Lacasse Property.

The Utica shale is a black calcareous shale from 150 to 700 feet thick, and between 3.5% to 5% by weight total organic carbon. The Utica shale play focuses on an area south of the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City. Interest has grown in the region since Denver-based Forest Oil Corp. announced a significant discovery there after testing two vertical wells. Forest Oil reported that said its Quebec assets may hold as much as four trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, and that the Utica shale has similar rock properties to the Barnett shale in Texas. Quebec has been known to have natural gas reserves, but advanced horizontal drilling techniques and higher gas prices are only now making the play potentially economically viable.

Forest Oil, which has several junior partners in the region, has drilled both vertical and horizontal wells. Talisman Energy has drilled five vertical Utica wells, and began drilling two horizontal Utica wells in late 2009 with its partner Questerre Energy, which holds under lease more than 1 million gross acres of land in the region. Among Other companies in the play are Quebec-based Gastem and Calgary-based Canbriam Energy.

Apart from interesting exploration targets on the south western section of the aforementioned area, TransAmerican believes that the Lacasse Property is in a very favorable and strategic position with lands bordering the St-Lawrence Golf and River. Islands in these waters will enable the Company to test the suspected presence of massive gas pools underwater that could encompass these islands.

Part and Parcel Financing

The Company has also negotiated, subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange, a private placement for gross proceeds of up to $500,000. These funds will be raised by the issuance of up to 10,000,000 Units (the "Units") at a price of $0.05 per Unit, each Unit consisting of one common share and one share purchase warrant, each warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one additional common share, exercisable for a period of one year from the date of issuance at a price of $0.10 per share.

Proceeds raised from the private placement will be for the Acquisition, and for general working capital purposes.

The Company may pay finders' fees in connection with the private placement in accordance with the rules and policies of the Exchange.

Certain of the directors and/or officers of the Company may together directly and indirectly subscribe for a total of up to 1,000,000 Units, and upon closing of this private placement, those related parties may therefore acquire up to an additional 1,000,000 shares in the capital stock of the Company which will increase their pro rata shareholdings in the Company (the "Related Party Transaction"). All of the independent directors of the Company, acting in good faith, have determined that the fair market value of the securities being issued and the consideration paid is reasonable and, with the value of the Related Party Transaction being less than 25% of the Company's market capitalization, is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of the Ontario Securities Commission's Rule 61-501.

Appointment of Director

The Company is further pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Billings to its Board of Directors. Mr. Billings, a Chartered Financial Analyst, has an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BA Political Science, from Carleton University. He is presently a Partner at Atwater Financial Inc., a Montreal-based financial consultancy that provides corporate finance services to Canadian small-cap companies. Mr. Billings is also the President and CEO of Orex Exploration (TSX-V:OX), and is or has been a director and/or officer of several other listed companies. The Board welcomes his expertise.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Ron Hughes, President