McMoRan Exploration Co.Prices Offerings of 14.5 Million Shares of Common Stock and 75,000 Shares of Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock

NEW ORLEANS--(Business Wire)--
McMoRan Exploration Co. (NYSE: MMR) announced that it has priced a public
offering of 14.5 million shares of common stock at $5.75 per share. The
underwriters have an option to purchase from McMoRan up to an additional 2.175
million common shares to cover over-allotments, if any.

McMoRan also announced today that it has concurrently priced a public offering
of 75,000 shares of convertible perpetual preferred stock at $1,000 per share.
The convertible perpetual preferred stock will pay, when and if declared by the
Board of Directors, cash dividends at a rate of 8.00% per annum, payable
quarterly. The underwriters have an option to purchase from McMoRan up to an
additional 11,250 convertible perpetual preferred shares to cover
over-allotments, if any. The first dividend date will be August 15, 2009.

The preferred stock will be convertible into approximately 11.0 million shares
of McMoRan common stock, equivalent to a conversion price of approximately $6.84
per share of common stock, reflecting a 19.0% conversion premium to the $5.75
per share price of the common offering. The conversion rate will be subject to
anti-dilution adjustments in certain circumstances and the preferred stock may
not be called for redemption by McMoRan prior to June 15, 2014, and thereafter
may be called at McMoRan`s option if McMoRan`s common stock price exceeds 130%
of the conversion price for 20 trading days within a period of 30 consecutive
trading days.

These offerings, which are expected to close on June 22, 2009, will generate
gross proceeds of $158.4 million before underwriting discounts, expenses and the
exercise of over-allotment options, if any. McMoRan intends to use the net
proceeds from these offerings for general corporate purposes, including capital
expenditures.

The book-running manager for these offerings is J.P. Morgan. The co-managers for
the common stock offering are Dahlman Rose & Company, LLC, BNP Paribas
Securities Corp, Capital One SouthCoast, Inc., Howard Weil Incorporated, TD
Securities (USA) LLC, ING Financial Markets LLC and Piper Jaffray & Co. The
co-managers for the convertible perpetual preferred offering are Merrill Lynch,
Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Dahlman Rose & Company, LLC.

The offerings will be made under McMoRan`s existing shelf registration statement
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 5, 2007. This press
release is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any
securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any
jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Any
offers of the shares of preferred or common stock described in this press
release will be made exclusively by means of a prospectus and prospectus
supplement.

Copies of the prospectus supplements and accompanying base prospectus relating
to these offerings may be obtained by contacting J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., 4
Chase Metrotech Center, C S Level, Brooklyn, New York 11245. Copies of the
prospectus supplements and accompanying base prospectus will also be available
on the Securities and Exchange Commission`s website at www.sec.gov.

McMoRan Exploration Co. is an independent public company engaged in the
exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas offshore in the
Gulf of Mexico and onshore in the Gulf Coast area.

McMoRan has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus and
prospectus supplement) with the SEC for the offering to which this communication
relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus and prospectus
supplement in that registration statement and other documents McMoRan has filed
with the SEC for more complete information about McMoRan and this offering. You
may obtain these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at
www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the issuer, any underwriter or any dealer
participating in the offering will arrange to send you the prospectus and the
prospectus supplement if you request them by calling J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.
toll-free at 1-800-576-3529.

McMoRan Exploration Co.
Financial Contact:
David P. Joint, 504-582-4203
or
Media Contact:
William L. Collier, 504-582-1750

Copyright Business Wire 2009