Petrohawk Announces New Shale Gas Field Discovery
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As of 9:49 AM ET 10/21/08Petrohawk Energy Corporation ("Petrohawk" or the "Company") (NYSE: HK) announced a significant new natural gas field discovery in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. This new field in La Salle County, Texas, was discovered after extensive regional subsurface and seismic mapping, geochemical analysis and petrophysical study. The Company has leased over 100,000 net acres in what it believes to be the most prospective areas for commercial production from the Eagle Ford Shale. The field is located immediately south of the Stuart City Field, which is on the Edwards Reef Trend that extends across South Texas.

"This discovery folds perfectly into our portfolio of unconventional resource assets," said Dick Stoneburner, Chief Operating Officer. "Petrohawk's staff has extensive experience in the acquisition and development of horizontal plays as exhibited by our results in the Haynesville Shale and Fayetteville Shale plays. Leveraging that expertise to uncover new opportunities like the Eagle Ford Shale adds significantly to our playbook."

The discovery well, the STS #241-1H, was drilled to an approximate true vertical depth of 11,300 feet during which extensive coring and open hole logging was performed. An approximate 3,200-foot lateral was drilled and subsequently fracture stimulated with over two million pounds of sand in ten stages. The well was placed on production at a rate of 9.1 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day (7.6 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 250 barrels of condensate per day). A confirmation well, the second well drilled on the project, the Dora Martin #1H, which is approximately 15 miles from the discovery well, has been drilled, cored and logged. The quality of the Eagle Ford Shale in this well appears to be superior to that found in the STS #241-1H. The Company is currently drilling the lateral on this second well. A third well is expected to spud by mid-November.

Petrohawk expects drilling and completion costs for development wells to range between $5 and $7 million. Development costs, including one rig that will run continuously on the project, have already been included in the Company's published 2008 and 2009 capital plans. The Company plans to access existing gathering and transportation infrastructure, further improving lower overall development costs.

Petrohawk is the operator and owns 90% working interest in the project, with 10% owned by industry partners.

Conference Call Scheduled for 9:30 a.m. CDT

Petrohawk has scheduled a conference call for Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. CDT (10:30 a.m. EDT) to discuss the Eagle Ford Shale discovery and today's operational update. To access, dial 800-644-8607 five to ten minutes before the call begins. Please reference Petrohawk Energy Conference ID 70181528. International callers may also participate by dialing 706-679-8184. A replay of the call will be available approximately two hours after the live broadcast ends and will be accessible until November 4, 2008. To access the replay, please dial 800-642-1687 and reference conference ID 70181528. International callers may listen to a playback by dialing 706-645-9291. Petrohawk Energy Corporation is an independent energy company engaged in the acquisition, production, exploration and development of natural gas and oil with properties concentrated in North Louisiana, Arkansas, East Texas, Oklahoma and the Permian basin.

For more information contact Joan Dunlap, Vice President - Investor Relations, at 832-204-2737 or jdunlap@petrohawk.com. For additional information about Petrohawk, please visit our website at www.petrohawk.com.

Additional Information for Investors

This press release contains forward-looking information regarding Petrohawk that is intended to be covered by the safe harbor "forward-looking statements" provided by of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, based on Petrohawk's current expectations and includes statements regarding acquisitions and divestitures, estimates of future production, future results of operations, quality and nature of the asset base, the assumptions upon which estimates are based and other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, strategies or statements about future events or performance (often, but not always, using words such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "estimates", "potential", "possible", "probable", or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "will", "should", or "could" be taken, occur or be achieved). Statements concerning oil and gas reserves also may be deemed to be forward-looking statements in that they reflect estimates based on certain assumptions that the resources involved can be economically exploited. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the statements. These risks include, but are not limited to: the risks of the oil and gas industry (for example, operational risks in exploring for, developing and producing crude oil and natural gas; risks and uncertainties involving geology of oil and gas deposits; the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to future production, costs and expenses; potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; health, safety and environmental risks and risks related to weather such as hurricanes and other natural disasters); uncertainties as to the availability and cost of financing; fluctuations in oil and gas prices; risks associated with derivative positions; inability to realize expected value from acquisitions, inability of our management team to execute its plans to meet its goals, shortages of drilling equipment, oil field personnel and services, unavailability of gathering systems, pipelines and processing facilities and the possibility that government policies may change or governmental approvals may be delayed or withheld. Additional information on these and other factors which could affect Petrohawk's operations or financial results are included in Petrohawk's reports on file with the SEC. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from the projections in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management at the time the statements are made. Petrohawk does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

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