PRESS RELEASE       Contact:    Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc.
                                B. Allen Connell, Director of Investor Relations
                                Paul F. Boling, Chief Financial Officer
                                (281) 496-1352

CARRIZO  OIL  &  GAS,  INC.  ANNOUNCES   OPERATING  RESULTS  AND  FIRST  QUARTER
PRODUCTION; RECENT SUCCESSFUL WELL DRILLED IN WEST COFFEE BAY PROSPECT

HOUSTON, April 29, 2004 - Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRZO) today announced
the operating  results for the first quarter of 2004. In the Company's core area
in South Texas and Louisiana,  the Company  participated in the drilling of nine
gross  exploratory  wells,  six of which were  successful.  In the Company's new
Barnett Shale play in North Texas,  the Company  participated in the drilling of
eight gross wells,  all of which were  successful.  Accordingly,  the  Company's
drilling  success  rate was an 82  percent  apparent  success  rate in the first
quarter.  Nine of these successful wells have been completed and five are in the
process of being completed.  Drilling  operations are currently  underway on six
additional  wells in the  Company's  core  area and one  additional  well in the
Barnett Shale play.

Production  during the first  quarter of 2004 was  estimated to be 1.86 Bcfe, or
four percent  below the 1.94 Bcfe of production in the first quarter of 2003 and
unchanged  from the  fourth  quarter of 2003.  Currently,  the  Company's  daily
production is approximately 24 MMcfe/d.

Natural  gas  comprised  approximately  72 percent of total first  quarter  2004
production.  The Company estimates that first quarter 2004 sales prices averaged
approximately  $5.87 per Mcf and $33.33 per  barrel.  These  prices  include the
effects of hedging  activities,  which  resulted in an increase of the  realized
price of natural gas sold by  approximately  $0.15 per Mcf and a decrease in the
price of oil  sold by  approximately  $1.48  per  barrel.  The oil  sales  price
reflects  the  large  volume  of  condensate  production  relative  to total oil
production.

Operating highlights during the first quarter of 2004:

     o    In the West Coffee Bay Prospect in Lafourche  Parish,  Louisiana,  the
          Company  has  successfully  drilled  the  LL&E #1 well and  logged  an
          estimated 40 feet of apparent  net pay in the Coffee Bay sand.  We are
          currently  preparing to deepen the well, into another  objective sand.
          Carrizo is the operator of the well and owns an approximate 47 percent
          working interest.

"The LL&E #1 is already a sizeable  discovery  with more  potential  in the next
objective  sand,"  commented  S.P.  Johnson IV,  Carrizo's  President  and Chief
Executive Officer.  "This discovery is especially significant coming right after
our recent equity offering which allowed us to keep a larger working interest in
the well. We have also begun drilling a 14,000 foot well on our Delilah prospect
in the same Coffee Bay project area in which we will earn a 60 percent working



interest.  We are well on our way to reaching  our  drilling  targets this year,
with six rigs  drilling in our core Gulf Coast area and one rig  drilling in the
Barnett Shale trend."

Carrizo  Oil & Gas,  Inc.,  is a  Houston-based  energy  company  engaged in the
exploration,  development, exploitation and production of oil and natural gas in
proven  onshore  trends  primarily  along  the Texas and  Louisiana  Gulf  Coast
regions.  Carrizo controls  significant  prospective acreage blocks and utilizes
advanced 3-D seismic techniques to identify potential,  oil and gas reserves and
drilling opportunities.

Statements in this news release,  including but not limited to those relating to
the results,  the potential,  the apparent net pay and other effects of the LL&E
#1 well, the Company's  drilling  targets or management's  intentions,  beliefs,
expectations,  hopes, projections,  assessment of risks,  estimations,  plans or
predictions  for the future  including  potential  effects or timing,  timing of
completion  and drilling of wells and other  statements  that are not historical
facts are forward  looking  statements  that are based on current  expectations.
Although the Company  believes  that its  expectations  are based on  reasonable
assumptions,  it can  give no  assurance  that  these  expectations  will  prove
correct.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those in the forward looking  statements include the results and dependence
on exploratory drilling  activities,  operating risks, oil and gas price levels,
land issues, availability of equipment, weather and other risks described in the
Company's  Form 10-K for the year ended  December 31, 2003 and its other filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.