Exhibit 99.1

Penn Virginia Resource Partners, L.P.

Four Radnor Corporate Center, Suite 200, 100 Matsonford Road, Radnor, PA 19087

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PENN VIRGINIA RESOURCE PARTNERS, L.P. ANNOUNCES

FIRST QUARTER 2010 RESULTS

RADNOR, PA (BusinessWire) May 5, 2010 – Penn Virginia Resource Partners, L.P. (NYSE: PVR) today reported financial and operational results for the three months ended March 31, 2010 and provided an update of full-year 2010 guidance.

First Quarter 2010 Highlights

First quarter 2010 highlights and results, with comparisons to first quarter 2009 results, included the following:

Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP-based measures appear in the financial tables later in this release.

Management Comment

William H. Shea, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of PVR, said, “We are pleased to report that distributable cash flow generated by our two business segments increased by $6.0 million, or 19 percent, over the first quarter of 2009. The improvement in quarterly results was due to higher fractionation, or frac, spreads for PVR Midstream due to higher natural gas liquids (NGLs) prices and continued low natural gas costs. We anticipate system throughput and processed volumes will increase during 2010 as producers’ drilling activity is expected to increase given higher natural gas prices relative to 2009 levels, as well as a desire on the part of producers to drill in NGL-rich gas plays.

“In addition, in March we announced an expansion into the Marcellus Shale play in northeast Pennsylvania whereby we will provide midstream services to Range Resources Corporation (NYSE: RRC) and other producers in the future as they explore and develop this important emerging natural gas resource. The impact upon PVR Midstream of this expansion is expected to be significant over the next few years.

“Coal royalties revenue, net of coal royalties expense, which accounted for approximately 83 percent of the Coal and Natural Resource Management segment’s first quarter revenues, was nine percent lower as compared to the first quarter of 2009, due to a six percent decrease in lessee coal production volumes as well as a three percent decrease in net coal royalties per ton.”

First Quarter 2010 Results

DCF for the first quarter of 2010 of $37.6 million was $6.0 million, or 19 percent higher, than the $31.6 million of DCF in the first quarter of 2009 primarily due to:

These increases in DCF were partially offset by:

DCF in the first quarter of 2010 decreased by $10.7 million, or 22 percent, from $48.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 due to reduced midstream segment gross margin, reduced coal and natural resource management segment revenues and higher cash operating expenses. The prior quarter’s midstream gross margin included approximately $4.4 million of year-end volumetric and capital indemnification settlements from two producers in north Texas.

The $1.2 million, or six percent, increase in adjusted net income as compared to the prior year quarter was primarily due to a $7.4 million increase in operating income from PVR Midstream (adjusted for the cash impact of midstream derivatives), offset in part by a $4.6 million decrease in operating income from the coal and natural resource management segment and the $1.7 million increase in interest expense (adjusted for the cash impact of interest rate derivatives).

The $5.2 million, or 55 percent, increase in net income as compared to the prior year quarter was due to a $5.8 million increase in operating income, partially offset by a $0.6 million increase in other expenses.

Cash Distribution

As previously announced, on May 14, 2010, PVR will pay to unitholders of record as of May 3, 2010 a quarterly cash distribution of $0.47 per unit, or an annualized rate of $1.88 per unit. The distribution remains unchanged from the distribution paid in the previous quarter.

Coal and Natural Resource Management Segment Review

During the first quarter of 2010, operating income for PVR Coal and Natural Resource Management decreased by $4.6 million, or 18 percent, to $20.4 million from $25.0 million in the prior year quarter. Total revenues, net of coal royalties expense, decreased by $4.9 million, or 13 percent, to $32.1 million from $37.0 million in the prior year quarter primarily due to a $2.6 million, or nine percent, decrease in coal royalties revenue, net of coal royalties expense, and a decrease in other revenues resulting from lower minimum rental forfeiture income.

Coal royalties revenue, net of coal royalties expense, was nine percent lower than the prior year quarter, primarily due to a 0.5 million ton, or six percent, decrease in lessee production, as well as a $0.11, or three percent decrease, in average net coal royalties per ton to $3.25 in the first quarter of 2010 as compared to $3.36 in the prior year quarter. The decrease in lessee production from the prior year quarter was attributable to decreases in Central Appalachia and the Illinois Basin offset by an increase in the San Juan Basin. Operating expenses, excluding coal royalties expense but including depreciation, depletion and amortization (DD&A) expense, decreased by $0.3 million, or three percent, to $11.7 million primarily due to decreases in other operating expenses.

Natural Gas Midstream Segment Review

During the first quarter of 2010, operating income for PVR Midstream increased $10.4 million to $7.4 million from an operating loss of $3.0 million in the prior year quarter. Adjusted for the cash impact of derivatives, operating income increased $7.4 million, from $0.7 million in the prior year quarter to $8.2 million. Midstream gross margin increased by 72 percent to $28.8 million, or $1.04 per Mcf, from $16.8 million, or $0.52 per Mcf, in the prior year quarter primarily due to an increase in the price of NGLs, partially offset by a 14 percent decrease in system throughput volumes. Adjusted for the cash impact of derivatives, midstream gross margin was $29.6 million, or $1.07 per Mcf, up 44 percent from $20.6 million, or $0.64 per Mcf, in the prior year quarter.

System throughput volumes decreased 14 percent to 27.7 Bcf, or approximately 308 MMcf per day, in the first quarter of 2010 from 32.3 Bcf, or approximately 359 MMcf per day, in the prior year quarter. The decrease in volumes was primarily the result of reduced drilling by producers due to low gas prices. Other expenses increased by $2.8 million to $23.7 million, due to a $1.4 million increase in DD&A expense and smaller increases in other operating expenses resulting from expansions.

Capital Resources and Impact of Derivatives

As of March 31, 2010, PVR had outstanding borrowings of $618.1 million under our $800 million revolving credit facility and $17.5 million of cash and equivalents, with remaining borrowing capacity of $180.3 million. In April 2010, PVR issued $300 million of 8.25% senior unsecured notes due in 2018, reducing revolver debt to $325.5 million and increasing remaining borrowing capacity to $472.9 million. Interest expense increased from $5.6 million in the first quarter of 2009 to $5.8 million in the first quarter of 2010 due to an increase in amortization of debt issuance costs.

For the first quarter of 2010, derivatives expense was $7.6 million, as compared to derivatives expense of $7.2 million in the prior year quarter. Cash settlements of derivatives included in these amounts resulted in net cash payments of $1.6 million during the first quarter of 2010 related to commodity and interest rate derivatives, as compared to $2.8 million of net cash receipts in the prior year quarter. See the Natural Gas Midstream Segment Review in this release for a discussion of the impact of derivatives on PVR Midstream’s gross margin. See the Guidance Table included in this release for details of derivative positions as of March 31, 2010.

Guidance for 2010

See the Guidance Table included in this release for updated guidance estimates for full-year 2010. These estimates, including capital expenditure plans, are meant to provide guidance only and are subject to revision as our operating environment changes.

First Quarter 2010 Financial and Operational Results Conference Call

A joint conference call and webcast for PVR and Penn Virginia GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE: PVG), during which management will discuss first quarter 2010 financial and operational results, is scheduled for Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. ET. Prepared remarks by William H. Shea, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, will be followed by a question and answer period. Investors and analysts may participate via phone by dialing 1-866-630-9986 five to ten minutes before the scheduled start of the conference call (use the passcode 7464869), or via webcast by logging on to our website, www.pvresource.com, or PVG’s website, www.pvgpholdings.com, at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call to download and install any necessary audio software. A telephonic replay of the call will be available for two weeks by dialing 1-888-203-1112 (international: 1-719-457-0820) and using the following replay code: 7464869. An on-demand replay of the conference call will be available for two weeks at our website.

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Headquartered in Radnor, PA, Penn Virginia Resource Partners, L.P. (NYSE: PVR) is a publicly traded limited partnership which manages coal and natural resource properties and related assets and operates a midstream natural gas gathering and processing business. For more information about us, visit our website at www.pvresource.com.

Certain statements contained herein that are not descriptions of historical facts are “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Because such statements include risks, uncertainties and contingencies, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include, but are not limited to, the following: the volatility of commodity prices for natural gas, NGLs and coal; our ability to access external sources of capital; any impairment writedowns of our assets; the relationship between natural gas, NGL and coal prices; the projected demand for and supply of natural gas, NGLs and coal; competition among producers in the coal industry generally and among natural gas midstream companies; the extent to which the amount and quality of actual production of our coal differs from estimated recoverable coal reserves; our ability to generate sufficient cash from our businesses to maintain and pay the quarterly distribution to our general partner and our unitholders; the experience and financial condition of our coal lessees and natural gas midstream customers, including our lessees’ ability to satisfy their royalty, environmental, reclamation and other obligations to us and others; operating risks, including unanticipated geological problems, incidental to our coal and natural resource management or natural gas midstream businesses; our ability to acquire new coal reserves or natural gas midstream assets and new sources of natural gas supply and connections to third-party pipelines on satisfactory terms; our ability to retain existing or acquire new natural gas midstream customers and coal lessees; the ability of our lessees to produce sufficient quantities of coal on an economic basis from our reserves and obtain favorable contracts for such production; the occurrence of unusual weather or operating conditions including force majeure events; delays in anticipated start-up dates of our lessees’ mining operations and related coal infrastructure projects and new processing plants in our natural gas midstream business; environmental risks affecting the mining of coal reserves or the production, gathering and processing of natural gas; the timing of receipt of necessary governmental permits by us or our lessees; hedging results; accidents; changes in governmental regulation or enforcement practices, especially with respect to environmental, health and safety matters, including with respect to emissions levels applicable to coal-burning power generators; uncertainties relating to the outcome of current and future litigation regarding mine permitting; risks and uncertainties relating to general domestic and international economic (including inflation, interest rates and financial and credit markets) and political conditions (including the impact of potential terrorist attacks); and other risks set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009.

Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in our press releases and public periodic filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009. Many of the factors that will determine our future results are beyond the ability of management to control or predict. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s views only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

PENN VIRGINIA RESOURCE PARTNERS, L.P.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS - unaudited

(dollars in thousands, except per unit data)

PENN VIRGINIA RESOURCE PARTNERS, L.P.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS - unaudited

(in thousands)

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS - unaudited

(in thousands)

PENN VIRGINIA RESOURCE PARTNERS, L.P.

CERTAIN NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES - unaudited

(in thousands, except per unit data)

PENN VIRGINIA RESOURCE PARTNERS, L.P.

QUARTERLY SEGMENT INFORMATION - unaudited

(in thousands)

PENN VIRGINIA RESOURCE PARTNERS, L.P.

GUIDANCE TABLE - unaudited

(dollars and tons in millions)

Penn Virginia Resource Partners, L.P. is providing the following guidance regarding financial and operational expectations for full-year 2010.

These estimates are meant to provide guidance only and are subject to revision as PVR’s operating environment changes.

PENN VIRGINIA RESOURCE PARTNERS, L.P.

DERIVATIVE CONTRACT SUMMARY - unaudited

As of March 31, 2010

We estimate that, excluding the derivative positions described above, for every $1.00 MMBtu increase or decrease in the natural gas price, natural gas midstream gross margin and operating income for the remainder of 2010 would decrease or increase by approximately $3.8 million. In addition, we estimate that for every $5.00 per barrel increase or decrease in the crude oil price, our natural gas midstream gross margin and operating income for the remainder of 2010 would increase or decrease by approximately $5.9 million. This assumes that crude oil prices, natural gas prices and inlet volumes remain constant at anticipated levels. These estimated changes in gross margin and operating income exclude potential cash receipts or payments in settling these derivative positions.

(a) - Purchased put/floor.

(b) - Sold call/ceiling.