Material Fact - Resignation of the majority of HRT's Board Members

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 23, 2013 /CNW/ - HRT Participações em Petróleo S.A. (the "Company" or "HRT") (BM&FBOVESPA: HRTP3, TSX-V: HRP) informs that, at a meeting of the Board of Directors held on December 20th, 2013, whose minutes were filed in a timely manner at the IPE system (CVM and BM&FBOVESPA), and also made available on the Company`s website, there was a resolution on the following motion by the majority of the members in attendance: "To acknowledge that the election of Messrs. Edmundo Falcão and Marcello Pacheco is null and void, and that they should cease to be members of the Fiscal Council and be considered as such; Messrs. François Moreau and Oscar Prieto should be suspended until the next Shareholder´s Meeting and shall refrain from exercising the prerogatives they would be entitled to, if they had been properly elected; To instruct the Company to seek the reimbursement of the compensation and costs, and all payments made to Messrs. Marcello Pacheco and Edmundo Falcão; To reschedule the Shareholder´s Meeting and adjust the agenda and to publish a Material Fact, given that it is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders to allow shareholders to vote all of the relevant matters with a fully informed basis".

Additionally, HRT announces to its shareholders and the market in general that it received on December 22nd, 2013, six Letters of Resignation from independent members of the Board of Directors, namely:  Messrs. Thomas W. Ebbern, Peter L. O ́Brien, Joseph P. Ash, François Moreau, Charles Laganá Putz and Oscar Prieto, addressed to the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the CEO and/or the Investor Relations Officer of the Company. Copy of these letters will be forwarded to the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission - CVM.

Furthermore, the Board of Officers informs that it is gathered on this date, with the support of legal advisers, to deliberate over the next steps to be adopted by the Company that will be disclosed in a timely manner to the shareholders and to the market.

Lastly, the Board of Officers emphasizes that these events do not interfere with the regular activities of HRT, especially with regard to their financial and asset management, as well as that it moves forward in its strategic and budget planning, mainly in respect of the imminent start-up of activities as the operator of the Polvo Field, in the Campos Basin, the negotiations regarding the transfer of operatorship in the Solimões Blocks and the sale of four rigs to Rosneft, in addition to the preservation of its cash position that is forecasted to exceed R$ 200 million at year end.

For additional information, please contact HRT`s Investor Relations Department.

Sedar Profile # 00031536

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About HRT
HRT Participações holds one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in Brazil. The HRT Group comprises six main subsidiaries: IPEX (Integrated Petroleum Expertise Company Serviços em Petróleo Ltda.), HRT O&G Exploração e Produção de Petróleo Ltda., HRT Netherlands B.V., HRT África Petróleo S.A., HRT América Inc. and HRT Canada Inc.. The Company retains a 55% interest in 19 exploratory blocks in the Solimões Basin. HRT also operates ten exploratory blocks off the Namibian coast: eight blocks in the Orange Sub-basin and two blocks in the Walvis Sub-basin. HRT's team includes PHDs and masters in geochemistry, geophysics, biology and engineering, most of them former employees of Petrobras and ANP (Brazil petroleum agency). HRT is committed to minimizing any possible environmental impacts in the sites where it acts. Our commitment to the local communities is towards health conditions, safety and quality of life. For more information, please visit the Company's website: www.hrt.com.br/ir

Disclaimer
This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this news release are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our drilling and seismic plans, operating costs, acquisitions of equipment, expectations of finding oil, the quality of oil we expect to produce and our other plans and objectives. Readers can identify many of these statements by looking for words such as "expects", "believe", "hope" and "will" and similar words or the negative thereof. Although management believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and, accordingly, forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution readers of this news release not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements because a number of factors may cause actual future circumstances, results, conditions, actions or events to differ materially from the plans, expectations, estimates or intentions expressed in the forward-looking statements and the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements.

The following risk factors could affect our operations: the contingent resource and prospective resource evaluation reports involving a significant degree of uncertainty and being based on projections that may not prove to be accurate; inherent risks to the exploration and production of oil and natural gas; limited operating history as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company; drilling and other operational hazards; breakdown or failure of equipment or processes; contractor or operator errors; non-performance by third party contractors; labour disputes, disruptions or declines in productivity; increases in materials or labour costs; inability to attract sufficient labour; requirements for significant capital investment and maintenance expenses which HRT may not be able to finance; cost overruns and delays; exposure to fluctuations in currency and commodity prices; political and economic conditions in Namibia and Brazil; complex laws that can affect the cost, manner or feasibility of doing business; environmental, safety and health regulation which may become stricter in the future and lead to an increase in liabilities and capital expenditures, including indemnity and penalties for environmental damage; early termination, non-renewal and other similar provisions in concession contracts; and competition. We caution that this list of factors is not exhaustive and that, when relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors and others should also carefully consider other uncertainties and potential events. The forward-looking statements herein are made based on the assumption that our plans and operations will not be affected by such risks, but that, if our plans and operations are affected by such risks, the forward-looking statements may become inaccurate.

The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by applicable securities laws, we do not undertake to update such forward-looking statements.

SOURCE HRT Participações em Petróleo S.A.