Trans-Orient Petroleum Provides Clarification on Press Reports Relating to the Company's...

Trans-Orient Petroleum Provides Clarification on Press Reports Relating to the
Company's Independent Resource Assessment

VANCOUVER, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Trans-Orient Petroleum Ltd.
(OTCBB: TOPLF) would like to clarify certain matters reported in the press
relating to its announcement on October 21, 2008, concerning the independent
assessment of the resource potential of the Company's permits located in the
East Coast Basin of New Zealand as prepared by AJM Petroleum Consultants.
The Company wishes to clarify that certain press reports have incorrectly
stated that oil had been found and or discovered within the Company's East
Coast Basin permits.
Although there are a number of oil and gas seeps naturally occurring on these
lands, the Company's permits and the associated work programmes are at the
initial stages of exploration and a significant amount of work is required to
be conducted by the Company in order to determine if any portion of the
prospective resources will be discovered, and if discovered, if they will be
commercially viable to produce.
The Company commissioned the resource assessment report as part of its
ordinary course of business relating to its November 2008 deadline that
requires the Company to commit to drilling exploratory wells in each of our
two East Coast Basin permits by November 8, 2009.
The report was filed as required under National Instrument 51-102 as a
material document with the British Columbia Securities Commission on the SEDAR
website at http://www.sedar.com as it disclosed an estimate of the prospective
resources of the Company's East Coast Basin permits and the associated
original hydrocarbon in place within those permits. The resource potential was
independently determined in accordance with the business practices, evaluation
procedures, and resource definitions contained within National Instrument
51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities and in the Canadian
Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook.
The term "Prospective Resources" refers to those quantities of petroleum
estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered
accumulations by application of future development projects. Prospective
Resources have both an associated chance of discovery and a chance of
development. There is no certainty that any portion of the resources will be
discovered. If discovered there is no certainty that it will be commercially
viable to produce any of the resources.

Headquartered in Calgary, Canada, AJM Petroleum Consultants employs over 70
staff members, and provides expertise in all areas of oil and gas, including
the unconventional reserves and resources of coalbed methane, tight gas, shale
gas, bitumen and heavy oil. Copies of the AJM report can be accessed
electronically through Trans-Orient's website at http://www.transorient.com.
The report has also been filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission
on the SEDAR website at http://www.sedar.com

Forward-Looking Statements:

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable legislation.
Other than statements of historical fact, all statements in this release
addressing future operations, undiscovered hydrocarbon resource potential,
exploration, potential reservoirs, prospects, leads and other contingencies
are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations
expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable
assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and
actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking
statements due to factors such as market prices, exploration successes,
continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market,
political or business conditions. Please see our public filings at
www.sedar.com for further information.

SOURCE Trans-Orient Petroleum Ltd.

Garth Johnson, CEO, (604) 682-6496, www.transorient.com