BLUE DOLPHIN ENERGY COMPANY



PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 2010

          BLUE DOLPHIN ENERGY COMPANY RECEIVES NASDAQ DELISTING NOTICE;
                       PLANS TO REQUEST HEARING TO APPEAL

Houston,  March 19 / PRNewswire / -- Blue Dolphin Energy Company (NASDAQ:  BDCO)
("Blue Dolphin"), an independent oil and gas company with operations in the Gulf
of Mexico, announced today that it received a notification letter from NASDAQ on
March 16, 2010, for failure to meet the per share minimum bid price  requirement
for continued listing as set forth in Marketplace Rule 5550(a)(2). To appeal the
determination and avoid delisting,  Blue Dolphin will request a hearing before a
NASDAQ Listing  Qualifications  Panel (the "Panel") prior to March 23, 2010, and
expects to have a hearing date scheduled in 30 to 45 days. Pending a decision by
the Panel,  Blue  Dolphin's  common  stock will remain  listed and traded on The
NASDAQ Capital Market.

Blue Dolphin  Energy Company is engaged in the gathering and  transportation  of
natural gas and  condensate and production of oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico.
For     further     information     visit    the     Company's     website    at
http://www.blue-dolphin.com.

Contact:
--------
Thomas W. Heath
President
713-568-4725

Certain of the  statements  included  in this  press  release,  which  express a
belief,  expectation or intention,  as well as those regarding  future financial
performance or results, or which are not historical facts, are "forward-looking"
statements  as that term is defined in the  Securities  Act of 1933, as amended,
and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words "expect", "plan",
"believe",  "anticipate",  "project",  "estimate",  and similar  expressions are
intended  to  identify   forward-looking   statements.   These   forward-looking
statements  are  not  guarantees  of  future  performance  or  events  and  such
statements involve a number of risks,  uncertainties and assumptions,  including
but not limited to  industry  conditions,  prices of crude oil and natural  gas,
regulatory changes,  general economic conditions,  interest rates,  competition,
and  other  factors.  Should  one  or  more  of  these  risks  or  uncertainties
materialize or should the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results
and outcomes may differ  materially from those indicated in the  forward-looking
statements.  Readers  are  cautioned  not  to  place  undue  reliance  on  these
forward-looking statements,  which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company
undertakes  no  obligation to republish  revised  forward-looking  statements to
reflect  events  or  circumstances  after  the date  hereof  or to  reflect  the
occurrence of unanticipated events.

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