SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 17159 / September 28, 2001

SEC v. TRANS ENERGY, INC., LOREN E. BAGLEY, AND WILLIAM F. WOODBURN, U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia, Civil Action No. 1 01CV02060

   The Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) announced today
   that it filed a federal civil action against Trans Energy, Inc. (Trans
   Energy), Loren E. Bagley (Bagley), its president, and William F.
   Woodburn (Woodburn), its vice president and principal financial
   officer, charging violations of the anti-fraud and reporting
   provisions of the federal securities laws. Trans Energy is an oil and
   natural gas exploration and distribution company based in West
   Virginia whose stock is quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board under the
   symbol TSRG.

   The Complaint alleges that from 1998 through 2000, Trans Energy, at
   the direction of Bagley and Woodburn, disseminated a number of false
   and misleading statements to the investing public through press
   releases, wesbite postings, and Commission filings. Specifically,
   Trans Energy issued press releases in October 2000 touting a supposed
   $612 million worth of oil reserves. The Complaint alleges that Trans
   Energy had no reasonable basis to value the potential reserves at that
   amount, and that the gross overvaluation caused Trans Energy's stock
   price to reach a six-month high. The Complaint further alleges that in
   a November 2000 posting on its website, Trans Energy inaccurately
   minimized the significance of the "going concern statement" included
   in its most recent filing with the Commission at a time when Trans
   Energy's ability to continue as a going concern was greatly in doubt.
   Additionally, the Commission claims that in a December 2000 press
   release about its Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Trans Energy misled the
   investing public by failing to disclose that the bankruptcy arose from
   Trans Energy's inability to pay a $600,665.36 consent judgment entered
   earlier that year, and that a Chapter 7 trustee had been appointed.
   Finally, the Complaint alleges that Trans Energy's Commission filings
   from 1998 through 2000 misrepresented the status of, or failed to
   disclose the existence of, material lawsuits that resulted in over $1
   million in consent judgments against the company. The Complaint
   alleges that Bagley and Woodburn, as Trans Energy's only officers,
   knew or were reckless in not knowing that the above statements were
   false and misleading.

   The Commission seeks a judgment against Trans Energy enjoining it from
   future violations of Sections 10(b) and 13(a) of the Securities
   Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) and Rules 10b-5, 12b-20, 13a-1,
   and 13a-13 thereunder. Further, the Commission seeks a judgment
   against Bagley and Woodburn enjoining them from future violations of