Vancouver, December 20, 2006 – Portrush Petroleum Corporation (TSX- V :PSH, OTCBB:PRRPF) (http://www.portrushpetroleum.com) announced today that the operator of the Mission River, Texas property has commenced drill-site preparation work for the Scanio/Shelton No. 8 well. Actual drilling operations (“spud date”) could begin during the first week of January, possibly as early as January 2nd or 3rd. utilizing a Patterson-UTI drilling rig capable of drilling to 8,500 feet. The operator recently completed a 3-D seismic shoot on the property and has used the data to enhance the Scanio/Shelton No.8 location. The Company holds a 10% interest in the Mission River property and the seismic shoot covered the entire property of just over 700 acres. It is anticipated the seismic data will support a multi-well deep drilling program on the property after the completion of this well. The seismic information will be used to locate the wells and determine the optimum number of wells that will be required to drain the reservoir. To date two deep wells have been drilled and successfully placed on production. An upgrade of the pipeline gathering system has been completed and this will allow an increase in production capacity from present production of three million cubic feet a day to eighteen million cubic feet a day. An announcement of any decisions regarding the multi-well program will be disseminated via a press release. For all future Portrush investor relations needs, investors are asked to visit the Portrush IR Hub at http://www.agoracom.com/IR/Portrush where they can post questions and receive answers within the same day, or simply review questions and answers posted by other investors. Alternatively, investors are able to e-mail all questions and correspondence to PSH@agoracom.com where they can also request addition to the investor e-mail list to receive all future press releases and updates in real time. To find out more about Portrush Petroleum Corporation visit our website at www.portrushpetroleum.com or visit our Investor Relations site at http://www.agoracom.com/IR/Portrush The statements made in this Press Release may contain forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Mr. Martin Cotter, President & Director CONTACT INFORMATION Mr. Allan McGirr Telephone 604 696 2555 866 939 2555 info@portrushpetroleum.com Investor Relations AGORACOM Investor Relations http://www.agoracom.com/IR/Portrush PSH@Agoracom.com The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed this press release and has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained in this press release.