DENVER, June 28 /CNW/ -- Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. (Amex: KOG; TSX Venture: KOG), an oil and gas exploration and production company with assets in the Vermillion and Williston Basins, today announced the appointment of Don McDonald to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. McDonald will serve as Chairman of Kodiak's Audit Committee. With a 20-year career as a senior financial officer in several regional and super regional financial institutions, McDonald specialized in energy lending with expertise in financial areas of accounting systems, controller- side stewardship, and debt structuring. McDonald, a certified public accountant, is currently with Houston-based Albrecht & Associates, a leading oil and gas divestiture firm. Prior to joining Albrecht in 2006, he helped establish the energy lending division for Bank of the West in Denver. During his career he has held various positions, including Senior Lending Officer at Wells Fargo and Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer at First Community Bank. McDonald holds a Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor Business Administration in Finance from the University of Iowa. McDonald is active in the Council of Petroleum Accountants Society, the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, Energy Finance Roundtable, and the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants. In conjunction with his agreeing to serve on the Board of Directors, he was granted 100,000 options to purchase Kodiak's common stock. The options vest in 12 months, are priced at US$4.03 and expire on June 27, 2011. Kodiak also granted 185,000 options to purchase the Company's common stock to certain employees. These options vest in stages over 27 months, are priced at US$4.03, and expire on June 27, 2011. Management Comment Lynn Peterson, CEO and President of Kodiak Oil & Gas, said: "Don's experience in the energy industry along with his M&A expertise, numerous professional relationships and financial and reporting strengths are a valuable addition to the Kodiak Board. Kodiak strives to maintain best-in-practice internal controls that are essential to a public company's success. We are pleased that Don has joined our Board, and we believe he is the ideal individual to chair our Audit Committee while providing important collaboration and advice." About Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. Kodiak Oil & Gas, headquartered in Denver, is an independent energy exploration and development company focused on exploring, developing and producing oil and natural gas in the Williston and Greater Green River Basins in the U.S. Rocky Mountains. For further information, please visit www.kodiakog.com. The common shares of the Company are listed for trading on the American Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "KOG." Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements, usually containing the words "believe," "estimate," "project," "expect" or similar expressions. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in the prices of oil and gas, uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of oil and gas reserves and projecting future rates of production and timing of development activities, competition, operating risks, acquisition risks, liquidity and capital requirements, the effects of governmental regulation, adverse changes in the market for the Company's oil and gas production, dependence upon third-party vendors, and other risks detailed in the Company's periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.