Mesa Energy Holdings, Inc. Appoints W. Willard Powell as Executive VP of Geology

Mesa Energy Holdings, Inc. (the "Company”) (OTCPK: MSEH), an oil and gas exploration and production company, today announced that it has appointed W. Willard Powell as Executive VP of Geology. He has over 45 years of business, financial, engineering and geo-science experience in all phases of the upstream oil and gas business in the Gulf Coast Region of the United States.

Willard began his career when he was recruited by Shell Oil Company in June 1966. He had a successful career with Shell where he worked on many teams (often serving as team leader) both in exploration and production. He was involved in the successful drilling, completing and producing of over 500 profitable oil and gas wells and received the "Shell Oil Company President’s Award for Team Excellence”, Shell Oil Company’s highest employee recognition award, in 1997.

In January 1999, Willard ventured into the independent oil and gas world by taking a position with Matrix Oil and Gas as Senior Staff Geologist. In 2002, he joined Denbury Resources as Senior Staff Geologist and in 2006 he joined Harvest Oil & Gas as Partner/Geologist. In July of 2010, Willard joined Monnie Greer as co-founder of privately held Tchefuncte Natural Resources, LLC (TNR) of Covington, Louisiana. In his role as Executive Vice President, he was instrumental in the evaluation and due diligence efforts of TNR toward the acquisition of properties in five producing oil and gas fields in South Louisiana during the twelve month period prior to the acquisition of TNR by the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Mesa Energy, Inc., in July, 2011.

As a result of having worked as a geologist with Shell, Matrix Oil and Gas, Denbury Resources and Harvest Oil and Gas, Willard is highly experienced in prospect generation, having generated, drilled and developed many world class prospects. In addition, his geological expertise has resulted in the identification and development of bypassed reserves in a large number of mature oil and gas fields.

"We are privileged to have an industry veteran like Willard on our team to ensure that the Company’s drilling and recompletion efforts achieve the highest possible success rates. Willard is a well respected Gulf Coast petroleum geologist and his experience brings tremendous value to the Company,” said Randy M. Griffin, CEO of Mesa Energy Holdings, Inc.

"Since leaving Shell I have enjoyed working with many professionals in privately held companies and I look forward with excitement to be working once again for a publicly traded exploration and production company. Mesa Energy expects to achieve growth in multiple areas including the acquisition of companies with existing producing properties, leasing of exploration property, drilling and project development, redevelopment studies and redevelopment program execution. This broad approach will enable our highly skilled and experienced team to maximize the overall growth and profitability. I appreciate the opportunity to join a team with such an impressive and proven track record and I look forward to contributing all I can to the growth and success of Mesa Energy,” added Willard Powell.

About Mesa Energy Holdings, Inc.

Headquartered in Dallas, TX, Mesa Energy Holdings, Inc. is an oil and gas exploration and production company with a definitive focus on growing reserves and net asset value per share, primarily through the acquisition of solid, long-term existing production with enhancement potential and the development of highly diversified, multi-well developmental and defined-risk exploratory drilling opportunities.

More information about the Company may be found at http://mesaenergy.us.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. Words such as "expects", "intends", "plans", "may", "could", "should", "anticipates", "likely", "believes" and words of similar import also identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current facts and analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determined and assumptions of management. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors which may be beyond the reasonable control of the Company, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to locate and acquire suitable interests in oil and gas properties on terms acceptable to the Company, the availability and pricing of additional capital to finance operations and leasehold acquisitions, the ability of the Company to build and maintain a successful operations infrastructure, the intensity of competition and changes and volatility in energy prices. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this release. Additional information on risks and other factors that may affect the business and financial results of the Company can be found in the filings of the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.