Sonoro Energy Ltd. : Jan 5, 2012 Sonoro Enters into Farmout Agreement for its Salah ad Din Asphalt License

NEWS RELEASE

TSX Venture Exchange Symbol: SNV January 5, 2012

Sonoro Enters into Farmout Agreement for its Salah ad Din Asphalt License

Calgary, Alberta - Sonoro Energy Ltd. ("Sonoro" or "the Company") (TSX-V: SNV) is pleased to announce that the Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sonoro Energy Iraq B.V. ("Sonoro Iraq"), has entered into a Farmout Agreement (the "Agreement") with Geopetrol International Holding Inc. ("Geopetrol International") and its subsidiary, Geopetrol Iraq Corp. (collectively, "Geopetrol").
The Agreement provides for the assignment by Sonoro to Geopetrol of a thirty percent (30%) participating interest in the Asphalt License Agreement (the "License") among Sonoro Iraq, the Al-Salah ad Din Provincial Government (the "Government") and Berkeley
Petroleum Mesopotamia Asphalts Limited, with Sonoro retaining a forty percent (40%)
participating interest in the License and operatorship. The Agreement is subject to certain conditions being completed, including the approval of the Government and the TSX Venture Exchange.
Pursuant to the Agreement, Geopetrol will pay to Sonoro an initial cash payment of US$3,000,000 as partial reimbursement of past costs and fund the first US$9,000,000 of the costs to be incurred by Sonoro and Geopetrol in respect of the License. The Company and Geopetrol intend to use the US$9,000,000 to conduct drilling operations on the North Salah ad Din prospect.
Under the Agreement, Geopetrol will also participate in a private placement (the "Private Placement") for 46,000,000 common shares in the capital of Sonoro at a price of CDN$0.09 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of CDN$4,140,000. Following the Private Placement, Geopetrol will own approximately 17.5% of Sonoro's outstanding common shares. In conjunction with the closing of the Agreement, Sonoro will also pay to an arm's length third party a finder's fee equal to three percent (3%) of the total amounts payable by Geopetrol under the Agreement, with two percent (2%) of such finder's fee payable in cash and the remaining one percent (1%) payable in common shares of Sonoro at a price per share equal to the closing market price of the common shares immediately prior to the announcement
of the Agreement.
Geopetrol International is part of a privately held group having combined production of approximately 5,000 barrels of oil per day from operations in Vietnam, Yemen, France, Tunisia, Canada and India.
Richard Wadsworth, Sonoro President & CEO said "Geopetrol brings a wealth of international experience in both the oil and gas upstream and services businesses as well as bringing significant financial strength to our partnership. With Geopetrol we will be looking
to accelerate the drilling of the North Salah ad Din prospect as well as other identified
prospects in the Salah ad Din Province".
Gaston Rebilly, Geopetrol International's President, commented "we are pleased to have the opportunity to farm-in on what we believe is a potential world class resource in the Salah ad Din Province of Iraq. Sonoro has developed a range of excellent drilling prospects and we look forward to working with Sonoro to jointly explore and develop these prospects".
FirstEnergy Capital LLP acted as exclusive financial advisor to Sonoro with respect to the
Agreement.

Operational Update

The Company has provided potential drilling services providers with the information necessary to submit a proposal for the drilling of initial wells in the Company's North Salah ad Din prospect and has received offers from interested service providers.

Management Update

The Company is also pleased to announce that Mr. David Little, MBA, will be joining the Company as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Little is the founder and Chairman of Black Stag Resources Inc., a private Australian oil and gas explorer. From early 2009 to November
2011, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Gallic Energy Ltd. In 2002, he founded Avery Resources Inc., an oil and gas producer and explorer with operations in both Australia and Canada. In conjunction with his appointment, Sonoro has granted to Mr. Little 250,000 stock options under the Company's stock option plan at an exercise price of CDN$0.10. An additional 100,000 options, at an exercise price of CDN$0.10 have also been granted to consultants of the Company.
The Company would like to thank Mr. Lance Mierendorf for his contributions as Chief
Financial Officer over the past year and wishes him the best in his future endeavors.

About Sonoro

Sonoro is an international oil exploration and development company. Our current focus is resource exploration and development in Iraq. We have initiated the evaluation of resource opportunities within our asphalt (heavy oil) license agreement, and new interests for conventional oil and gas exploration are being pursued in the Salah ad Din Province in the Republic of Iraq.

Forward Looking Information

This press release contains forward looking information, including but not limited to planned exploration at Sonoro's North Salah ad Din prospect (NSD). The forward looking information is based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated.

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These risks include, but are not limited to risks associated with the oil and gas industry (e.g. operational risks in development, exploration and production delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of resource estimates; the uncertainty associated with geological
interpretations; the uncertainty of estimates and projections in relation to production, costs and expenses and health, safety and environmental risks), the risk of commodity price and foreign exchange rate fluctuations, risks associated with the implementation of new technology, risks associated with obtaining, maintaining and the timing of receipt of regulatory approvals, permits, and licenses, uncertainties relating to access to capital markets, in-country political risks and the risk of volatile global economic conditions.
Due to the risks, uncertainties and assumptions inherent in forward looking information, prospective investors in the company's securities should not place undue reliance on forward looking information. Forward looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof and are subject to change. The company assumes no obligation to revise or update forward looking information to reflect new circumstances, except as required by law.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements in this release that are forward-looking statements, including the exploration success and development plans in Iraq, are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those specific factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof based on information currently available. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement except in compliance with applicable securities laws.

For further information please contact:

RICHARD WADSWORTH

PRESIDENT & CEO
+1 403.262.3252 [e-mail] www.sonoroenergy.com

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