Tri-Valley Names Cunningham as President and COO; Gamble as Vice Chairman

BAKERSFIELD, CA, May 18 (MARKET WIRE) --
Tri-Valley Corporation (NYSE Amex: TIV) announced that, in accordance
with the Company's succession plan, Maston N. Cunningham, 58, formerly
its vice president of corporate development, has been elected president
and chief operating officer succeeding F. Lynn Blystone who remains chief
executive officer and chairman of the board of the parent corporation and
its five subsidiaries. Also, G. Thomas Gamble, 48, a director since
January 2006 has been elected vice chairman of the board of publicly
traded parent, Tri-Valley Corporation.

Mr. Cunningham held a succession of managerial posts with Occidental Oil &
Gas Corporation in Pakistan, Peru and Ecuador for 21 years before taking
early retirement in 2002. His last operating assignment was as regional
vice president government affairs for South America after serving as
president and general manager of Occidental Exploration & Production Co.
(Ecuador).

Mr. Cunningham, a certified public accountant, is also active in a number
of outside organizations including the Pan American Development Foundation
of Washington D.C. and the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in
Latin America.

Mr. Cunningham re-entered the petroleum industry as vice president of
corporate development for Tri-Valley Corporation overseeing the business
development and handled increasing administrative duties as well in
investor and public relations and human resource functions.

He will manage the day to day operations of the public parent and the
presidents of the subsidiaries and the chief financial officer will report
directly to him. "I and the Tri-Valley board of directors have great
confidence in Maston's abilities and welcome his assumption of the day to
day role," Blystone said.

"From my previous industry experiences I am used to challenging
circumstances and enhancing project performance even in difficult
conditions. Tri-Valley has assets that can lead to exceptional added value
for its shares and reward for its drilling partners as well as a good and
growing technical and administrative team for exploiting those assets in
the near term. I look forward to the important challenge of attracting
additional investment capital to Tri-Valley that, along with the combined
efforts of our dedicated management team and staff, will allow us to
increase our oil and gas production and reserves, and to create additional
value for our shareholder and project partners," Cunningham said.

Mr. Gamble of Yountville, California is Tri-Valley's largest individual
shareholder and a major investor in its TVOG Opus I Drilling Partnership
LP. He has experience in starting and successfully operating several
businesses in different industries. He is chairman of the finance
committees of the Tri-Valley Corporation board of directors and also
serves on the board committees for audit and personnel and compensation.

Blystone has served as president and chief executive officer of Tri-Valley
Corporation since 1981 and was also elected chairman of its board in 2007.

"Our oil and gas production, drilling and mineral subsidiaries are led by
professionally esteemed managers who are continuing to move our projects
forward. We have a board of seasoned professionals. We are enthused to
have the additional leadership and staff support expertise of Maston
Cunningham and Thomas Gamble especially in the current global situation
which offers Tri-Valley special opportunities along with the challenging
business conditions of the times," Blystone said.

Tri-Valley has been in business as a successful operating company since
1963, and has been a full reporting 12 (g) publicly traded Delaware
Corporation since 1972. Tri-Valley Corporation stock is publicly traded on
the New York Stock Exchange Alternext US under the symbol "TIV." Our
company website, which includes all SEC filings, is
www.tri-valleycorp.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties. Actual results, events and performance could vary
materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements
which includes such words and phrases as exploratory, wildcat, prospect,
speculates, unproved, prospective, very large, expect, potential, etc.
Among the factors that could cause actual results, events and performance
to differ materially are risks and uncertainties discussed in the
company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September
30, 2008, and the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2008.

Contact:
Egan Gost
Director Of Public and Investor Relations
1-800-579-9314

Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

-0-