HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwire) -- 01/15/13 -- Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) today announced that the Carrizo Board of Directors has approved a 2013 drilling and completion program of $500 million to be allocated as follows:

• Eagle Ford Shale $385 million
• Marcellus Shale $70 million
• Niobrara Formation $35 million
• Other drilling activities $10 million

The approved 2013 capital spending plan for land, seismic, and related activities is $124 million.

Carrizo President and CEO, S. P. "Chip" Johnson, IV commented on the approved spending program, "This 2013 plan allows us to maintain our current level of drilling activity plus the addition of a new rig working in the Niobrara Formation for the entirety of 2013. Our rig count will remain at three rigs running in the Eagle Ford Shale, one rig drilling in the Marcellus Shale and now two rigs running in the Niobrara Formation. This drilling activity supports our previously announced 2013 production forecast for approximately 28% annual growth in oil production and a natural gas production decline of approximately 3%. Our land acquisition costs are expected to be heavily front-end loaded and includes the cost to exercise our southern Utica acreage option with Avista Capital. Based on very encouraging drilling results in the southern Utica Shale play, yesterday we elected to exercise our land purchase option with Avista Capital for approximately $63 million. After the land purchase, Carrizo will own approximately 14,000 net acres in the play predominantly located in Guernsey, Noble, and Tuscarawas Counties, Ohio.

"Enough of our analysis of production data for the fourth quarter has been completed for us to update our prior guidance. Our oil production for the quarter is now expected to be near the high end of guidance of 8,100 to 8,700 Bbl/d and our fourth quarter natural gas and NGL production is also expected to be near the high end of our previous guidance of 88,000 to 99,000 Mcf/d."

Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. is a Houston-based energy company actively engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas from resource plays located in the United States. Our current operations are principally focused in proven, producing oil and gas shales primarily in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, the Niobrara Formation in Colorado, the Barnett Shale in North Texas, the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, and the Utica Shale in Ohio.

Statements in this news release that are not historical facts, including but not limited to those related to timing and levels of production, production mix (including estimates of historical information that has not yet been factually verified), the amount, timing, nature and geographical location of drilling and completion, land acquisition, seismic and other expenditures, the number, location and timing of drilling rigs and activity within the Company's various areas of operation, the Company's or management's intentions, beliefs, expectations, hopes, projections, assessment of risks, estimations, plans or predictions for the future, results of the Company's strategies, timing of completion and drilling of wells, and other statements that are not historical facts (or are estimates of historical information that have not yet been factually verified) are forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations. Although Carrizo believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include actions by governmental authorities, joint venture partners, industry partners, lenders and other third parties, market and other conditions, capital needs and uses, commodity price changes, effects of the global economy on exploration activity, results of and dependence on exploratory drilling activities, operating risks, right-of-way and other land issues, availability of capital and equipment, weather, and other risks described in Carrizo's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.