SHOUGUANG, China, Dec. 31, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources (NASDAQ: GURE) ("Gulf Resources" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China, today announces that it has successfully completed the test production at its first natural gas well in Sichuan Province, China and will commence trial production on January 1,2019.

The well will produce approximately 3,000-5,000 sq. meters of natural gas per day. While the output is relatively small, the Company expects it may increase gradually production throughout the trial phase.

Gulf has signed an agreement with a local customer for the output of the well. The agreement will take effect on January 1, 2019.

At this time, Gulf expects the trial phase to last approximately 6 months, after which the Company should begin commercial production and ramp up gradually.

“We are pleased to have completed the test production,” Liu Xiaobin, the CEO of the Company stated. “Our machinery is working very well. We will enter the trial production phase and have reached an agreement with our first customer taking effect on January 1, 2019.”

“China is forcing many factories, including ours, to replace coal by natural gas or other less polluting forms of energy. China also has a shortage of natural gas. In 2018, it was the largest importer of natural gas, “ Mr. Liu continued. “We are very excited about the opportunities for natural gas production in Daying County of Sichuan Province. Once our first well is in commercial production, we will explore opportunities for other wells.”

About Gulf Resources, Inc.

Gulf Resources, Inc. operates through three wholly-owned subsidiaries, Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited ("SCHC"), Shouguang Yuxin Chemical Industry Co., Limited ("SYCI"), and Daying County Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited (“DCHC”). The Company believes that it is one of the largest producers of bromine in China. Elemental Bromine is used to manufacture a wide variety of compounds utilized in industry and agriculture. Through SYCI, the Company manufactures chemical products utilized in a variety of applications, including oil and gas field explorations and papermaking chemical agents, and materials for human and animal antibiotics. DCHC was established to further explore and develop natural gas and brine resources (including bromine and crude salt) in China. For more information, visit  www.gulfresourcesinc.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release contain forward-looking information about Gulf Resources and its subsidiaries, business and products within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. The actual results may differ materially depending on a number of risk factors including, but not limited to, the general economic and business conditions in the PRC, future product development and production capabilities, shipments to end customers, market acceptance of new and existing products, additional competition from existing and new competitors for bromine and other oilfield and power production chemicals, changes in technology, the ability to make future bromine asset purchases, and various other factors beyond its control. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this Cautionary Statement and the risks factors detailed in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gulf Resources undertakes no duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.

CONTACT: Gulf Resources, Inc.

Web:  http://www.gulfresourcesinc.com Director of Investor Relations Helen Xu (Haiyan Xu) beishengrong@vip.163.com