December 11, 2003

News Release: Ivanhoe Energy added to S&P/TSX Composite Index

Ivanhoe Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:IVAN and TSX:IE) is pleased to announce that the company has been added to the Standard & Poor's Toronto Stock Exchange (S&P/TSX) Composite Index, effective December 19, 2003.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index is used by the financial community at large as a broad indicator of market activity for the largest and most heavily traded companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

"The company's inclusion in the S&P index is a further demonstration of market recognition of Ivanhoe's strategic natural gas and oil projects in China and the United States," said David Martin, Ivanhoe's Chairman. "Ivanhoe Energy, through its subsidiary company, Sunwing Energy, has been successfully producing oil from China for several years and we are now moving into important development stages of our Dagang oil field and Sichuan Basin gas project," Mr. Martin added. "Ivanhoe's experience in China and our development partnership with China International Trust and Investment Corporation puts us in a very advantageous position to help meet the challenge of supplying China's rapidly growing energy needs, particularly through a contribution of gas and other clean-energy fuels."

Ivanhoe's subsidiary, Sunwing Energy, has a 30-year production-sharing contract with PetroChina to commercially develop the Dagang oil project and the Zitong gas block.

At Dagang, Sunwing initiated a pilot program in 1999 that is currently producing approximately 500 barrels per day of light crude oil from the pilot area. The oil is sold to PetroChina at world market prices and Sunwing receives payment for its share of the oil production in US dollars outside China. Once this project is fully developed, gross production volumes are expected to reach a peak of 14,000 barrels per day, generating estimated field- level operating cash flows in excess of US$40 million in 2005 and exceeding US$60 million in 2006, assuming a benchmark oil price of US$26 per barrel.

At Zitong, in the Sichuan Basin, Sunwing has commenced its natural gas exploration and development program at the 900,000-acre Zitong gas block under a 30-year production-sharing contract with PetroChina signed on September 19, 2002. Previous drilling and seismic surveys on this large block indicated a gross natural gas resource potential of five trillion cubic feet or more. At US$3 per thousand cubic feet of gas, the potential gross revenues from the Sichuan resource could amount to US$15 billion over the life of the project, with an estimated peak annual field-level operating cash flow of US$83 million.

Ivanhoe Energy is an international energy company focused on: (1) production of cleaner burning fuels from natural gas, using proven gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology; (2) conventional exploration and production (E&P), primarily natural gas in the U.S.; and (3) primary oil development projects and natural gas projects, on a production-sharing basis with national petroleum companies.

Ivanhoe Energy trades on the NASDAQ SmallCap market with the symbol IVAN and on the Toronto Stock Exchange with the symbol IE.

Supplemental Information:

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The cash-flow estimates are based on several key assumptions that are subject to change, including production rates, price assumptions and the timely acquisition of project financing. For example, changes in timing of financing or delays due to rig availability could result in lower than projected results. Field operating cash flow is revenue less operating costs and production-related taxes.

Previous wells drilled on the Zitong block tested four geological structures (Wen, Zhe, Guan and Weicheng) and encountered the Xu formation. This formation is significantly fractured, typically over-pressured and contains primarily limestone-pebble conglomerate from the Triassic period. A completed well is expected to cost approximately US$ 5.5 million and apply high-angle or horizontal drilling technology. Approximately 80% of the wells drilled on the Zitong block have encountered natural gas or resulted in a commercial well, even though these wells were drilled prior to shooting seismic, that is, the drilling locations were selected based upon surface features. Under the industry standard measurement method using British Thermal Units (btu), six thousand cubic feet of natural gas equates to the heating value of one barrel of oil.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This document includes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the continued advancement of Ivanhoe Energy's exploration and development activities and estimates of the potential revenues from projects in China. When used in this document, the words "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "potential," "should," and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify forward-looking statements. Although Ivanhoe Energy believes that their expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include the potential that oil and gas drilling will experience technological and mechanical problems, geological conditions in the hydrocarbon structures may not result in commercial levels of oil or gas production, changes in product prices and other risks disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Source: Ivanhoe Energy Inc.

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