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From Meridian
Posted by: Meridian
In reply to: balance_builder who wrote msg# 28128
Date:3/4/2006 5:26:08 AM
Post #of 38935
His Long term vision is to build an large pan african oil company.
He is not going to sell. He received many offers, but kindly declined them.
Saleen say: Thanks all. Interesting events unfolding.
We must be close to something big!!!
Yes. I agree.
I have read the posts. Have watched the tide go in & out.
We must be close to something big!!!
Meridian,
Interesting evening. My guess is that you are not alone? How many in the room with you? Whats really up?
My main concern,
The old axiom, "to good to be true."
Bought more today.
The history of the deal.
Enjoy the read. Some may have read the article, some not. .
Some may find a few negatives. My perspective. Very informative. I need more shares.
http://www.ssn.flinders.edu.au/global/afsaap/conferences/2004proceedings/seibert.PDF
Thanks for the source Jim.
Here is the URL: http://www.sundayherald.com/54846
"The reserves under the Gulf of Guinea may yet prove to be bigger than anything yet discovered elsewhere. Nigeria alone plans to more than double its oil production from 2.5m barrels a day to more than five million barrels by 2010, and foreign oil companies have investments planned totalling $33 billion."
15-20 million share + day on upside with SP upticks for a few days will tell the story. Sometimes preceded with unusual volume activity & SP on downside. In a nutshell look for the 15-20 million plus day with SP on upside. Thats when the kickoff usually starts.
Thank you. eom
If the find is what this board thinks it is,
just sit back & relax. Many times I have seen a time lag from when good news is out & share price take's off. The following is a clip from EHRC on the move blog. I cannot provide an URL for the following clip. Usually I would not post without sourcing but I believe ya all know Joe.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Scotland's Sunday Herald: 'Reserves under the Gulf of Guinea may yet prove to be bigger than anything yet discovered'
Scotland's Sunday Herald: ' Reserves under the Gulf of Guinea may yet prove to be bigger than anything yet discovered'
In an excellent and profoundly well-informed article by its Johannesburg correspondent Fred Bridgland, Scotland's Sunday Herald this morning reports - amid a long analysis of Nigeria's stability and corruption issues - that the Gulf of Guinea may hold more oil than any other reservoir heretofore discovered on earth.
The claim is not well-supported, but given the context and surrounding information, it is believeable.
http://erhc.blogspot.com/
Chevron, Exxon in major oil strike in Africa
Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved.
The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
AFX News Limited
Chevron, Exxon in major oil strike in Africa - report
03.26.2006, 11:41 AM
LONDON (AFX) - US oil giants ChevronTexaco Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp have made a major oil discovery in the West African island state of Sao Tome and Principe, The Business newspaper reported, citing an unnamed source.
FOLLOW THE URL FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE
monicca.egoy@afxnews.com
mbe/hjp
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2006/03/26/afx2622145.html
Thanks,
I found it to be an interesting article. I also find this board to have a large group of unselfish, extremely informed individuals, who go above and beyond the norm in sharing information. TY
Big oil and the troubled waters of the Niger Delta
From Fred Bridgland in Johannesburg
A LITTLE over 10 years ago, the Ogoni writer and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa made world headlines when he was executed by Nigeria’s military dictatorship in the middle of a Commonwealth summit in New Zealand – despite all the leaders’ appeals for mercy.
At the time, Ron van den Berg, the Shell Oil Company’s managing director in Nigeria, commented to London-based specialist intelligence publication Africa Confidential, that the executions of Saro-Wiwa and eight of his fellow ethnic Ogonis – activists against the despoliation of the Niger River Delta by international oil corporations – would enhance Nigeria’s stability and avert civil war.
Contrary to Shell’s hopes, Saro-Wiwa and his martyrdom placed the worsening political and environmental crisis of the oil-rich Delta at the centre of national politics. It has stayed there, and now the calamity is greater than when Saro-Wiwa went to the gallows. The Delta is more violent, more anti-central government militias and criminal gangs led by warlords operate there, and they are much more heavily armed and more ruthless.
At government and military levels, corruption and fraud in the acquisition and selling of oil and gas has exacerbated the crisis. The poverty-stricken people of the Delta, championed by Saro-Wiwa, continue to suffer impoverishment, unemployment and the pollution by oil firms of their once pristine homeland.
Discontent is so heavy in the Delta that a major escalation of the current low-level civil conflict, which takes some 1500 lives a year, could have unpredictable consequences for an inherently unstable country, the most populous in Africa, with some 140 million people divided into more than 250 ethnic and language groups.
The consequences of such an escalation, which some American writers are predicting will become the “new Iraq” – an over-exaggeration at the moment – would indeed be serious for Western economies and for the world as a whole.
With Nigeria and its Delta oil reserves at the hub, countries in the armpit of West Africa – where the north-stretching coastline turns westwards around the Gulf of Guinea – are expected to supply 20 to 25% of the United States’ oil imports by 2010, putting the region ahead of Saudi Arabia as a source of American oil supplies.
It makes the Niger Delta and its people’s struggles against the Nigerian government and Big Oil one of the most strategically important places on earth, and the big powers are wracking their brains to try to ensure that nothing disrupts the flow of West African oil.
A recent report on the future of sub-Saharan Africa, published by the US government think tank the National Intelligence Council, identified the collapse of Nigeria as the most important risk facing Africa today.
“While currently Nigeria’s leaders are locked in a bad marriage that all dislike but dare not leave, there are possibilities that could disrupt the precarious equilibrium in Abuja [Nigeria’s capital],” the report said.
“If Nigeria were to become a failed state, it could drag down a large part of the West African region.”
Amid the deadly ethnic and religious tensions and chronic corruption which pervades all life in Nigeria, the West’s immediate fear is of political meltdown at next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections, which are always studded with violence and communal and regional hatreds.
Last year, at a US-organised security conference in Abuja, General Carlton Fulford, former deputy commander of the US European Command, which includes Africa, called for a coordinated central international security agency for the Gulf of Guinea, with Nigeria playing a significant role.
He did not spell out what military supplies Washington had already sent to Nigeria’s president Olusegun Obasanjo, but he suggested that the coordinating agency should be given radar devices and unmanned airplanes for surveillance of the Delta and offshore oil and gas fields.
In an attempt to quell the rebel groups in the twisting creeks and tangled swamps of the Delta – at 15,000 square miles one of the largest wetlands in the world – the Nigerian army and navy are buying former US coastguard patrol boats. But security experts reckon some 200 such boats will be needed to control the rebels and the “bunkering”.
Bunkering is the widespread rebel practice of tapping into pipelines and siphoning oil into barges, modified to become makeshift tankers, lurking in the mangrove swamps. The tankers ferry the oil to rusting sea-going tankers, registered in Ukraine and Albania, chartered by Lebanese middlemen and anchored offshore. Some 15% of Nigeria’s oil production disappears this way. The whole exercise requires complicity by senior military and government officials who turn a blind eye to the slow passage of the barges from the Delta into the open sea.
By some estimates, this illegal trade is worth more than Colombia’s entire drugs trade. Last month armed groups kidnapped nine foreign oil workers, set pipelines on fire and disrupted a major export terminal. Nigerian oil output is down 20% so far this year as a consequence of rebel attacks.
West African oil is being treated by the US as a major strategic asset. The reserves under the Gulf of Guinea may yet prove to be bigger than anything yet discovered elsewhere. Nigeria alone plans to more than double its oil production from 2.5m barrels a day to more than five million barrels by 2010, and foreign oil companies have investments planned totalling $33 billion.
What makes the whole proposition even more attractive is the fact that Nigeria is nearer America than the Middle East, and the oil is of higher quality – lighter and “sweeter” than that produced in the Middle East.
A major conference by the African Oil Policy Initiative Group, including top US government representatives and business and think tank executives, recommended that Congress declare the Gulf of Guinea an area of “vital interest” to the US and establish a regional sub-command – similar to US Forces Korea – in the region, with headquarters possibly on the islands of Sao Tome and Principe.
“There is a need to reshape a new US national security policy for sub-Saharan Africa based on a West African regional economic engine driven by large petroleum revenues from producing states such as Nigeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo Brazzaville,” the group concluded.
“Nigeria, especially, as Washington’s largest African trading partner and despite its difficulties with governance and transparency, could emerge as the pivotal actor, regional economic engine and stabiliser. By providing the US and other markets with a steady and secure flow of high-quality, reasonably priced African crude, dependence on hostile or unstable suppliers in other parts of the globe would diminish.”
But to secure this outcome while avoiding some future nightmarish Western military intervention to protect oil supplies, the social crisis of the Niger Delta will have to be solved by non-military means.
At present the five Delta states, the source of all of Nigeria’s oil, receive only 13% of the oil revenues. The rest goes to the central government. The Delta’s 22m people live in dire poverty among widespread pollution, which some allege has been created by companies such as Shell and Chevron. This pollution is said to have had a negative impact on the traditional fishing grounds. The revolt against Abuja grows by the day.
“Nigeria is like a country sitting on a keg of gunpowder,” said Nalaguo Chris Alagoa, who runs the Nigeria branch of the Paris-based conservation movement Pro-Natura International. “The Delta’s resources are what supports the whole country. The fuse is getting shorter and the day it explodes Nigeria will go to pieces.”
During the last quarter century, Nigeria’s leaders have looted hundreds of millions of dollars in oil revenues to foreign bank accounts while per capita income has dropped from around $1000 to less than $400.
Shell and Chevron say that nowadays they run major development projects to help the Delta communities. Shell’s spokespeople say the company spends $60m a year on community development, one of the largest corporate aid projects in the world.
But Africa Confidential recently visited Oloibiri, the small town that hosted Nigeria’s first oil well some five decades ago, and noted: “Oloibiri is a potent symbol of the oil industry’s failures. There is no power or running water in Oloibiri and few visible signs of progress. A clinic and hospital, built by Shell, stands empty for lack of staff and equipment.”
26 March 2006
http://www.sundayherald.com/54846
Saudi Arabia's Ghawar Field
The Elephant of All Elephants
Among the many prolific oil fields in the Middle East, the giant Ghawar field in Saudi Arabia stands out as the crown jewel.
Discovered in 1948, Ghawar is the world's biggest oil field, stretching 174 miles in length and 16 miles across to encompass 1.3 million acres.
Current estimates, according to the numerous published articles and reports on Ghawar, tag cumulative oil production from this geological giant at 55 billion barrels, and the field just keeps going gangbusters. Average production for the last 10 years has held essentially steady at five million barrels per day.
In fact, this one field accounts for more than one-half of all oil production in Saudi Arabia, according to a number of sources.
http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2005/01jan/ghawar.cfm
Sao Tome Parliament Election Moves into Final Stage
By Franz Wild
Abidjan
17 March 2006
Campaigning in Sao Tome's legislative election is moving into its final phase, as accusations of corruption dominate the contest.
Seventy thousand people are registered to vote in Sao Tome and Principe's legislative elections on March 26.
The campaigns by the 10 contending parties were launched last Saturday, with cars driving around the capital, Sao Tome, bearing party flags.
The main contest is between the party of former Prime Minister Guilherme Posser da Costa, the center-left MLSPT-PSD and its strongest opponent, the right-wing MDFM-PCD, led by Tome Vera Cruz.
President Fradique de Menezes belongs to the right-wing party. The center-left party holds 24 of the 55 seats in parliament, versus the president's 23.
Despite the potential for significant oil reserves, and bonus money on a few exploration contracts already delivered, Sao Tome remains very poor because of political instability and corruption. Only two months ago, Foreign Minister Ovidio Pequeno was accused of misappropriating around 500-thousand dollars of Moroccan aid money.
He was relieved of his post and appointed ambassador to the United States. He denies the charges against him.
London-based political analyst Chris Melville explains that the issue of corruption has come to dominate the election campaign.
"Many of what you may assume are the big issues, such as Sao Tome's relationship with the multilaterals, or the development of the oil sector, are of relatively little significance and importance for the Sao Tome electorate," said Melville. "Corruption tends to be the principle issue, with each party bemoaning the corrupt practices of its rivals."
One of the central tasks of a new government will be to work with President de Menezes. Under the former Portuguese colony's political system, the president appoints the prime minister, but wields most of the executive powers himself.
Political analyst Melville says these elections potentially mark a turning point in Sao Tome and Principe politics.
"The coming election is pretty crucial, both in terms of resolving recent tensions between the government and the president. It could result in a new administration, which would find it much easier to deal with President de Menezes than the current MLSPT regime has done. It should also be a crucial indication of what is going to happen during the presidential election later this year," said Melville.
The current MLSPT-PSD government has had a very difficult working relationship with President de Menezes, with prime ministers coming and going, often dismissed on suspicion of corruption.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-03-17-voa41.cfm
ERHC historical.
The long wait for JDZ deal
Release of results of the 2004 Licensing Round of the Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Zone (JDZ) originally scheduled for December 31, 2004 has been postponed a couple of times for inexplicable reasons.
In this analysis, Energy Editor, Bassey Udo, contends that ExxonMobil’s decision to reserve its rights in two of the five blocks on offer in the zone, the recent sack of the Sao Tomean Special Adviser on Petroleum and Energy, Patrice Traovoda, as well as last week’s resignation of the country’s Minister of Petroleum, Arlindo de Ceita Cavalho, over allegations of involvement in shady deals that compromised the bid process appear to fuel the perception in some quarters of a waning interest and credibility crisis of the exercise among investors.
Follow the URL for interesting article. Old news. Interesting from an historical prespective.
http://www.independentng.com/energy/enmay240506.htm
Search articles include ERHC.
http://search.netscape.com/ns/search?fromPage=NSCPToolbarNS&query=Chrome%20Energy%20%20nigeria
Your right. It is what it is.
For me, when the Petroleum Agency of Sao Tome and Principe makes the change on their web site it is what it is.
You have the right to stand tall for finding that tidbit of information.
I would like a clarification:
Regarding Blocks 4 and 5, the ERHC has lost its rights for not complying with the JMC’s directives and timeline for the signing of Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) and PSC negotiations for the said blocks.
I believe this is the right e-mail address. Whether I get a response or not is another matter. But I did e-mail for a clarification.
anp_geral@cstome.net
http://www.anp-stp.gov.st/eng/news/default.htm
Nigeria-STP JDZ earns $271 million
Offshore staff
(West Africa) - The Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Zone has earned the sum of $271 million in signature bonuses to be paid for new oil licenses awarded to local and foreign companies.
ExxonMobil revealed plans to invest on annual basis $2 billion in oil and gas E&P in Nigeria toward achieving a production capacity of 1 MMb/d by 2010.
The oil revenue to be shared by both countries came from the award of oil blocks 2, 3, and 4 in the JDZ, located in the Gulf of Guinea.
Sinopec and Addax/ERHC Energy posting a signature bonus of $71 million for block 2.
It is expected that Sinopec will operate block 2.
Anadarko alongside the ERHC Energy/Addax Petroleum consortium is operator for block 3 after posting a signature bonus of $40 million.
Block 4 went to the Addax/ERHC Energy consortium, along with Conoil Producing, Overt Energy, Hercules Energy, and Godson Energy, for a signature bonus of $90 million.
The companies involved are expected to pay the signature bonuses within the next 30 days.
This brings to $324 million the total sum of money to be shared by both countries from the award of oil licenses in the JDZ.
Chevron and its partners in JDZ Block 1, ExxonMobil and Dangote-EER, had earlier paid $123 million for the block awarded in 2003.
The provision of the treaty signed by the two countries indicates that Nigeria will get 60% of the revenue and Sao Tome, 40%.
While speaking at the signing of the production sharing contract agreements, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, Nigeria's Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, said concluding the award of the acreage had not come easily.
He said that at a point during the negotiations, Noble Energy withdrew its operatorship of block 4, leading to ERHC Energy signing a memorandum of understanding with Addax Petroleum.
"Negotiation of a PSC is by no means an easy task, as it involves exhaustive and careful discussions to arrive at a consensus which all parties will have to abide by for a very long time," he said.
The signing of the PSC had been shifted several times, the last glitch occurring on Feb. 28, 2006 with officials from Sao Tome demanding postponement for further review of the agreement.
Daukoru noted that the Joint Ministerial Council has been directed to fasttrack negotiations to ensure the signing of the PSCs for the remaining three blocks awarded along with blocks 3 and 4 at the 2004 JDZ licensing round.
03/20/06
http://ogj.pennnet.com/articles/article_display.cfm?Section=ONART&C=TOPST&ARTICLE_ID=250607&...
Nigeria: ExxonMobil Plans $2bn Annual Investment in Nigeria
Follow the URL for complete article
(Lagos)
March 15, 2006
Posted to the web March 16, 2006
Mike Oduniyi And Onyebuchi Ezigbo
Abuja
Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of Addax Petroleum, Mr. Jean Claude Gandur said that his company believed reserves in block 4 hold much promise, with potentials put at between 2 and 3 billion barrels of reserves.
"The block we have is one of the most prospective in the region. We promise as operator of block 4 to deliver as we have promised," said Gandur.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200603160345.html
TY.....eom
TY....eom
Any or all?
First of all I am a newbie long because I like what I read & hear. Intelligent posters here.
Sometimes the devil is in the details. Is it a given that the ERHC subsidiary of the company is a 100% wholly owned subsidiary? That is no point holders, no stakeholders, other than 100% owned by ERHC energy.
Thank you. eom
Meridian or anyone.
For an "example" lets say that when all is said & done ERHC percentage comes out to proven reserve after discounts of 250 million barrels of oil. What is the approximate valuation per barrel of deep water oil that a company can count as reserve in its financials?
Home >> Business
UPDATED: 08:18, March 16, 2006
Nigeria, Sao Tome sign deals on oil blocks
Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe have signed production sharing contracts with oil companies on two deepwater blocks in a joint development zone (JDZ) in the Gulf of Guinea, Nigerian media reported on Wednesday.
The Joint Development Authority (JDA) signed a production sharing contract for 666-sq km block 3 with a consortium of U.S. independent Anadarko Petroleum Corp., U.S.-based ERHC and Canada- based Addax with a signature bonus of 40 million U.S. dollars.
The JDA also signed a production sharing contract for 857-sq km block 4 with a consortium ERHC, Addax, Nigeria's Conoil with a signature bonus of 90 million U.S. dollars.
An earlier attempt to sign the contract for block 4 last month was thwarted when Sao Tome's delegation left Nigeria's capital Abuja without signing the documents. Nigeria charged Sao Tome and Principe with bad faith and called for a public apology for hampering the deal.
Sao Tome denied responsibility for the flop, blaming Abuja for trying to force it to ink contracts that had been altered to give a small Nigerian firm 9 percent of ERHC's stake in the block.
A similar contract had been signed in February 2005 with a consortium led by U.S. oil giant Chevron for block 1 in the JDZ.
Source: Xinhua
http://english.people.com.cn/200603/16/eng20060316_251013.html
São Tomé and Príncipe: Nigeria, Sao Tome Jdz Earns $271m....exxonmobil Unveils $2b Annual Investment
Vanguard (Lagos)
March 16, 2006
Posted to the web March 16, 2006
Hector Igbikiowubo
Abuja
The Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Zone (JDZ)yesterday earned the sum of $271 million (about N34.959 billion) being the signature bonuses to be paid for two new oil licenses awarded to local and foreign companies.
ExxonMobil yesterday revealed plans to invest on annual basis $2 billion in oil and gas exploration and production in Nigeria towards achieving a production capacity of 1.0 million barrels per day by 2010.
The oil revenue to be shared by both countries came from the award of two oil blocks 2, 3 and 4, in the JDZ, located in the Gulf of Guinea.
Sinopec and Addax/ERHC Energy clinched block 2 after posting a signature bonus of $71 million (about N9.159 billion). It is expected that Sinopec would operate the block on behalf of the other parties.
US oil firm Anadarko along side ERHC Energy/Addax Petroleum Consortium clinched the operator-ship for block 3 after posting a signature bonus of $40 million (about N5.160 billion).
Block 4 went to the Addax/ERHC Energy consortium along with Conoil Producing, Overt Energy, Hercules Energy and Godson Energy, for a signature bonus of $90 million (about N116.1 billion).
The companies involved are expected to pay up the signature bonuses within the next 30 days.
This brings to $324 million (about N41.796billion)the total sum of money to be shared by both countries from the award of oil licenses in the JDZ.
US oil major Chevron and its partners in JDZ Block 1, ExxonMobil and Dangote-EER, had earlier paid $123 million (about N15.867billion) for the block awarded in 2003.
The provision of the treaty signed by the two countries indicates that Nigeria will get 60 percent of the revenue and Sao Tome, 40 percent.
While speaking at the signing of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) agreements with the contractors in the two blocks, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, Nigeria's Minister of State for Petroleum Resources commended the Joint Development Authority (JDA), the body administering hydrocarbon resources in the JDZ, officials of both countries and the oil companies for ensuring that the agreements were finally concluded and signed.
He said concluding the award of the acreage had not come easily, noting that at a point during the negotiations, US oil firm Noble Energy withdrew its operator-ship of block 4, leading to ERHC Energy signing a memorandum of understanding with Swiss firm Addax Petroleum. "Negotiation of a PSC is by no means an easy task, as it involves exhaustive and careful discussions to arrive at a consensus which all parties will have to abide by for a very long time," he said.
It would be recalled that the signing of the PSC for the oil blocks had been shifted severally, the last being the botched attempt on February 28, 2006 with officials from Sao Tome demanding postponement to enable them further study the agreement.
Daukoru noted that the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) has been directed to fast-track negotiations to ensure the signing of the PSCs for the remaining three blocks awarded along with Block 3 and 4 at the 2004 JDZ Licensing Round.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200603160151.html
Addax Petroleum Acquires Equity Position in Highly Prospective Exploration Block Thursday , March 16, 2006 10:47 ET
CALGARY, Canada, Mar 16, 2006 (PR Newswire Europe via COMTEX) -- NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA OR JAPAN
Addax Petroleum Corporation ("Addax Petroleum") announces that it has together with its co-venturers signed a Production Sharing Contract ("PSC") with the Nigeria/Sao Tome Joint Development Authority ("JDA") relating to Block 2 of the Nigeria/Sao Tome Joint Development Zone ("JDZ") and that it is now entitled to a 14.33 per cent participation interest in Block 2 of the Nigeria/Sao Tome Joint Development Zone ("JDZ") pursuant to a participation agreement with ERHC Energy Incorporated ("ERHC") entered into on 2nd March 2006. Addax Petroleum also signed a joint operating agreement among the Block 2 co-venturers where Sinopec is the designated Operator.
Block 2 - Addax Petroleum: 14.33 per cent
Addax Petroleum's Block 2 entitlement is pursuant to:
- Block 2 PSC signed today with the JDA under which Addax Petroleum is obligated to pay a signature bonus of US$8.28 million and its share of a minimum committed work program of one (1) exploration well or a minimum expenditure of US$28 million, and
- a Participation Agreement with ERHC entered into on 2nd March 2005 under which Addax Petroleum became entitled to a 14.33 per cent participating interest for an obligation to pay US$6.8 million and a commitment to carry the costs associated with an ERHC interest of 7.33 per cent in Block 2.
The JDZ is located approximately 180 kilometres offshore Nigeria and is adjacent to areas where several large petroleum discoveries have been made. The JDZ was established in 2001 following the ratification of a formal bilateral treaty between Nigeria and the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe. The JDZ is administered by the JDA.
Block 2 covers a gross area of 692 square kilometres (170,993 acres). The water depth in Block 2 ranges from approximately 1,300 to 1,900 meters. Seismic data acquired over Block 2 is presently being analyzed to delineate potential drilling locations.
In commenting on the signing of the PSC Jean Claude Gandur, Chief Executive Officer of Addax Petroleum said, "With the completion of the acquisition of a equity position in a third JDZ Block, Addax Petroleum has achieved its goal of establishing a significant position in this highly prospective exploration area. We believe these acquisitions offer exciting opportunities to the Company and its shareholders".
About Addax Petroleum:
Addax Petroleum is an international oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Africa and the Middle East. Addax Petroleum is the largest independent oil producer in Nigeria and has increased its crude oil production from an average of 8,800 barrels per day for 1998 to an average to date of approximately 78,000 barrels per day in 2006. Further information about Addax Petroleum is available at www.addaxpetroleum.com or at www.sedar.com.
This announcement does not constitute an offer of, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for, common shares of Addax Petroleum to any person in any jurisdiction to whom or in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful and, in particular, is not for release, publication or distribution in or into the United States, Australia or Japan.
The offer and sale of the common shares has not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "Securities Act") and such shares may not be offered or sold in the United States unless registered under the Securities Act or an exemption from such registration is available. No public offering of common shares of Addax Petroleum is being made in the United States.
Certain statements in this announcement are forward looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward looking statements.
For further information: please contact: Mr. Patrick Spollen, Investor
Relations, Tel.: +41-(0)-22-702-95-47, patrick.spollen@addaxpetroleum.com; Mr.
Mac Penney, Press Relations, Tel.: +1(416)-934-8011, mac.penney@cossette.com;
Ms. Marie-Gabrielle Cajoly, Press Relations, Tel.: +41(0)-22-702-94-44,
marie-gabrielle.cajoly@addaxpetroleum.com
Copyright (C) 2006 PR Newswire Europe
http://www.knobias.com/individual/public/news.htm?eid=3.1.8d2144e7d0b817ebed7f588746ea7b2a70bfafd10c...
http://www.knobias.com/individual/public/quote.htm?aff=IHUB&ticker=ERHE
Tuesday 21st, February, 2006
JDZ: Five Years Of Solid Achievements
By Sam Dimka
It has been five year since Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe resolved to enter into a partnership for the development of the Joint Development Zone (JDZ), which came as a product of extensive consultations and negotiations between the governments of the two countries.
In what started as a maritime boundary dispute involving claims and counter-claims of the land bordering the two countries, a consensus that was later forged culminated in the signing of a formal Treaty in Abuja on February 21, 2001.
The Treaty derives its legal basis from the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Laws of theSsea (UNCLOS). Specifically, Article 74(3) of the UNCLOS “encourages states with opposite coasts, in a spirit of understanding and cooperation, to make every effort, pending agreement on delimitation, to enter into provisional arrangement of a practical nature, which do not jeopardize or hamper the reaching of a final agreement on the delimitation of their Exclusive Economic Zones.”
Some key provisions of the Treaty include:
•The establishment of the JDZ in a specific area defined by coordinates.
•The establishment of the Joint Development Authority (JDA) to develop and manage the petroleum and other natural resources in the JDZ.
•The sharing of the proceeds in the proportion of 60 per cent (Nigeria) and 40 per cent (Sao Tome and Principe).
•The Treaty is valid for 45 years subject to a review after 30 years.
•Non-renunciation of claims for the period the Treaty is in force.
•A Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) to have overall political responsibility over the JDZ and to supervise the JDA.
The JDZ, an area of overlapping maritime boundary claims, is defined by 32 coordinates and covers an area of 34,540 square kilometres in the oil rich Gulf of Guinea. The Gulf of Guinea is one of the most prolific hydrocarbon provinces of the world. Intensive exploration efforts over the last 50 years have led to a succession of significant discoveries in some oil fields, notably Bonga, Agbami/Ekoli and Akpo fields in Nigeria and Zafiro and Alba in Equatorial Guinea.
The inauguration of the JDA on January16, 2002, barely one year after the signing of the Treaty, ushered a new dawn in the history of the two countries. No sooner had the JDA been inaugurated than it swung into action to work towards the fulfillment of its mandate, which include:
•To develop and manage the petroleum and other natural resources in the JDZ and
•To share the proceeds in the ration of 60:40 between Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe correspondingly.
Upon its inauguration, the JDA carved out eleven oil blocks in the Northern part of the JDZ and articulated the fiscal regimes that would guide and regulate oil exploration activities in the zone.
Five years on, the JDA, as a corporate entity, has achieved remarkable successes in the pursuit of its mandate, considering many factors that impinge on the partnership between the two state parties. Some of the achievements recorded so far are summarized as follows:
•Spudding of the first exploratory well, OBO-1 by Chevron Texaco Corporation. Spudding of the well, which commenced on January 14, 2006, is on-going. Drilling of the well is progressing satisfactorily without pollution incident and/or accident. The well has been logged and 135/8 inch casing ran and cemented with a current well depth of 12,500 feet.
• Conduct of two Licensing Rounds, with the first (the 2003 Licensing Round that saw the award of Block-1 in April 2004), and the second (the 2004 Licensing Round that has led to the award of five Blocks (2-6) in May 2005).
•Realisation of US$123 million as signature bonus for Block-1.
• Signing of Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for Block-1 on February 1, 2005. The Operator of Block-1 is ChevronTexaco with 51 per cent equity, while ExxonMobil has 40 per cent and the remaining 9 per cent is for Dangote-Energy Equity Resources (DEER).
• Negotiations for PSC for Blocks 2-6 have almost been concluded and would be signed a few weeks after approval by the JMC holding soon.
•Conduct of a baseline study of the JDZ to guide oil and gas exploration activities. Samples and results are now being analysed.
•A study on the inventory of non-hydrocarbon resources in the JDZ has been commissioned and when concluded it will flag off in earnest the exploration of the non-oil resources in the JDZ.
• Establishment of the JDZ Investments, to, amongst others, pursue other investment opportunities and joint investment ventures that would yield revenue for sharing by the state parties.
That so much has been recorded in terms of concrete achievements is a reflection of the solid commitment of the two countries to look beyond the challenges they often come against with a view to realizing the goals and objectives of the Treaty.
Being an entirely new arrangement, the major challenges have to do with long negotiations, discussions and consultations on issues to build a consensus that would stand the test of time.
The delays in the fashioning and concluding contracts, which have resulted in the seeming prolonged extension of the schedule for the signing of some of the agreements, are basically a demonstration of all the parties to ensure diligence and thoroughness, avoid costly mistakes and omissions that might jeopardize their interests either in the short term or in the long run.
With a few weeks away from the signing of the Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) for Blocks 2-6, the spudding of the first exploratory well and lofty plans for future developments that will positively impact on the economies of the state parties, the JDZ development model is worthy of emulation.
Indeed, the JDZ has become a veritable tool for conflict resolution and economic integration in regional and international politics.
Dimka is Head, Corporate and Public Affairs, Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe JDA.
http://www.independentng.com/energy/enfeb210605.htm
Name Change
Nigerian Oil & Gas
An asset transfer for personal enrichment could very well place a company in court for years.
PyMusique is back
March 24, 2005
PyMusique is back
On Tuesday, the programmers behind PyMusique announced that they had found a new way around the copy protection in Apple's iTunes, just one day after Apple announced a fix for the problem. By using the PyMusique utility a customer can purchase songs from the iTunes catalog and store them on their hard drive without any form of copy protection. It also means those audio files can be played an any AAC compatible MP3 player and exported to any number of machines reports PC Mag.
John Lech Johansen on his blog said "The iTunes Music Store recently stopped supporting iTunes versions below 4.7 in an attempt to shut out 3rd party clients. I have reverse engineered the iTMS 4.7 crypto which will once again enable 3rd party clients to communicate with the iTMS."
http://ployer.com/archives/2005/03/pymusique_back.php
I've been around the block a few times. It was & is a momentum buster. I do not feel that the added E to the stock symbol was accidential. Amen.
Visit the snocap web site for background info.
http://snocap.com/