ARLINGTON, Texas, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRZO) is proud to announce that initial royalty payments totaling more than $675,000 have been dispersed to mineral owners in the City of Arlington who signed agreements associated with the production of natural gas on and around the campus of The University of Texas at Arlington.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030523/CRZOLOGO)

"Our operations at the University of Texas at Arlington have been an overwhelming success," Chip Johnson, President and CEO of Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. said. "It is exciting to be able to share these successes with our partners."

Among the 120 residents and organizations receiving their first monthly installment of royalty payments are:

    --  University of Texas at Arlington
    --  City of Arlington
    --  First Baptist Church of Arlington
    --  State of Texas

"This is truly exciting news for our University and our community," UTA President Jim Spaniolo said. "We are looking forward to using our royalties to support undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships, faculty and staff recruitment and retention and the campus master plan."

These royalty payments are among the first to be distributed in the City of Arlington for natural gas production.

About the Company

Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. is a Houston-based energy company actively engaged in the exploration, development, exploitation, and production of oil and natural gas primarily in the Barnett Shale in North Texas, the Marcellus Shale in Appalachia, and in proven onshore trends along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast regions. Carrizo controls significant prospective acreage blocks and utilizes advanced drilling and completion technology along with sophisticated 3-D seismic techniques to identify potential oil and gas drilling opportunities and to optimize reserve recovery.



    Contact:  Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc.
              Richard Hunter, Vice President of Investor Relations
              Paul F. Boling, Chief Financial Officer
              (713) 328-100

SOURCE Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc.