Pacific Ethanol Added to Russell 3000, Russell 2000 and Russell Global Indexes

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 1, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (Nasdaq:PEIX), the leading producer and marketer of low-carbon renewable fuels in the Western United States, announced its inclusion in the Russell 3000®, Russell 2000® and Russell Global Indexes as a result of the annual Russell Investments reconstitution of its comprehensive set of U.S. and global equity indexes finalized on June 27, 2014.

Annual reconstitution of Russell's U.S. indexes captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization. Membership in the Russell 3000, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in small-cap Russell 2000® Index or the large-cap Russell 1000® Index as well as the appropriate growth and value style indexes. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes. The Russell 3000 also serves as the U.S. component to the Russell Global Index, which Russell launched in 2007. Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. Approximately $5.2 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell Indexes. Russell calculates more than 700,000 benchmarks daily covering approximately 98 percent of the investable market globally, more than 80 countries and 10,000 securities. These investment tools originated from Russell's multi-manager investment business in the early 1980s when the company saw the need for a more objective, market-driven set of benchmarks in order to evaluate outside investment managers.

About Pacific Ethanol, Inc.

Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (PEIX) is the leading producer and marketer of low-carbon renewable fuels in the Western United States. Pacific Ethanol also sells co-products, including wet distillers grain ("WDG"), a nutritional animal feed. Serving integrated oil companies and gasoline marketers who blend ethanol into gasoline, Pacific Ethanol provides transportation, storage and delivery of ethanol through third-party service providers in the Western United States, primarily in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Colorado, Idaho and Washington. Pacific Ethanol has a 91% ownership interest in PE Op Co., the owner of four ethanol production facilities. Pacific Ethanol operates and manages the four ethanol production facilities, which have a combined annual production capacity of 200 million gallons. These operating facilities are located in Boardman, Oregon, Burley, Idaho, Stockton, California, and Madera, California. The facilities are near their respective fuel and feed customers, offering significant timing, transportation cost and logistical advantages. Pacific Ethanol's subsidiary, Kinergy Marketing LLC, markets ethanol from Pacific Ethanol's managed plants and from other third-party production facilities, and another subsidiary, Pacific Ag. Products, LLC, markets WDG. For more information please visit www.pacificethanol.com.

CONTACT: Company IR Contact:
         Pacific Ethanol, Inc.
         916-403-2755
         844-403-2755
         Investorrelations@pacificethanol.com

         IR Agency Contact:
         Becky Herrick
         LHA
         415-433-3777

         Media Contact:
         Paul Koehler
         Pacific Ethanol, Inc.
         916-403-2790
         paulk@pacificethanol.com

Released July 1, 2014