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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                         TOREADOR ELECTS NEW PRESIDENT;
                         FOUR NEW DIRECTORS NOMINATED;
                   AGGRESSIVE EXPLORATION STRATEGY REAFFIRMED

         DALLAS, June 29, 1998 -- Toreador Royalty Corporation (NASDAQ:  TRGL)
today announced that G. Thomas Graves III has been elected president and chief
executive officer, effective at the conclusion of the company's upcoming annual
shareholder meeting.  It also announced that four new board nominees will be
submitted to shareholders.

         G. Thomas Graves III currently serves as President and Director of
Wilco Properties, Inc., a privately held oil and gas exploration company and as
Managing Partner of Gralee Partners, LP, an asset management company.  Mr.
Graves served as an officer of Triton Energy Corporation from 1986 to 1993 and
also served as Chairman and Chief Executive of Triton Europe Plc, a London
Stock Exchange listed company engaged in the oil and gas exploration industry
from October 1991 to September 1993.

         John Mark McLaughlin, chairman and president, said "We are very
pleased to announce the election of Tom Graves as president of Toreador, and
the new candidates for director.  We believe that with our new president and
four new board members, the company will be well positioned to enhance
shareholder value."

         Toreador had retained Dain Rauscher Wessels as financial advisor to
help it identify and evaluate strategic options to create maximum shareholder
value, including possible acquisitions, a merger or other forms of
transactions.

         "What emerged from our broad assessment of strategic options was the
conclusion that for the foreseeable future the optimum means of increasing
shareholder value is to continue with our aggressive efforts to generate
exploration activity on our mineral acreage and to increase our exploration
activity through acquisitions," said McLaughlin.

         He said that three current directors chose not to stand for reelection
at the next shareholder meeting: John V. Ballard, Peter R. Vig and Jack Woods.
New candidates for election to the board are G. Thomas Graves III, William I.
Lee, Edward N. Dane and Peter L. Falb.  Graves is president of Gralee Capital
Corp., and Lee is a controlling stockholder of Gralee Capital Corp. and former
CEO and chairman of Triton Energy Corporation.  Gralee Capital Corp. is the
general partner of Lee Global Energy Fund, which owns 10.4 percent of
Toreador's outstanding common stock.  Dane and Falb are principals of Dane,
Falb, Stone & Co., an investment advisory firm in Boston, which together with
certain affiliates, owns 16.59 percent of Toreador's outstanding common stock.

         McLaughlin also said that the board of directors amended Toreador's
stockholder rights plan to make it "chewable", meaning that the plan will not
be triggered by a fully financed, all cash for all shares offer that is at
least $5 per share and at a 30 percent premium over the recent average market
price.  The ownership percentage at which an acquiring person triggers the plan
has been increased from 20 percent to 22 percent.

         Toreador Royalty Corporation owns in excess of 530,000 net mineral
acres located primarily in the Texas Panhandle and West Texas.  In addition,
the company owns working or royalty interests in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma,
Arkansas and Louisiana.

CONTACT:         JOHN MARK MCLAUGHLIN, CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT OR
                 ED MARHANKA, VICE PRESIDENT
                 (214) 369-0080