TEXT-S&P release on St. Mary Land Exploration Co

(The following statement was released by the rating agency)

March 21 - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it raised its
corporate credit rating on oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company
St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. to 'BB' from 'BB-'. The outlook is stable. As
of Dec. 31, 2007, Denver-based St. Mary had $442 million in debt.

"The company's moderate financial leverage, its satisfactory 2007
operating results, and our expectation that its 2008 capital budget will stay
within internally generated cash flow spurred the upgrade," said Standard &
Poor's credit analyst David Lundberg.

The rating on St. Mary reflects the company's midsize reserve base,
average cost structure, and acquisitive growth strategy, as well as the E&P
industry's highly cyclical and capital-intensive nature. These weaknesses are
partially offset by the company's good track record of internal reserve
replacement and production growth, balanced production mix between natural gas
and oil, and moderate financial leverage.

Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of
RatingsDirect, the real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor's credit
ratings, research, and risk analysis, at www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings
affected by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web
site at www.standardandpoors.com; select your preferred country or region,
then Ratings in the left navigation bar, followed by Credit Ratings Search.
(New York Ratings Team)