ERHC Energy Inc (ERHE)

[Southern Man]

Joint development zone holds between six and 12 billion barrels of crude oil.

http://energymixreport.com/nigeria-sao-tome-may-start-oil-production-at-jdz/

Nigeria, Sao Tome may start oil production at JDZ

Efforts may have commenced towards activating oil production in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ), being operated by Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe, after an agreement by the partners to reinvigorate the Joint Development Authority (JDA).
The JDA, in a categorical statement recently, said, “oil and gas production in the area might begin within the next 18 months.”
The authority is also planning to adopt the latest technology that would enhance the production activities in the oil rich zone.
According to the statement, the decision was made at the 22nd meeting of the joint ministerial council held recently in Abuja, where the JDA’s headquarters are located.

The statement signed by JDA President, Arzemiro dos Prazeres and Executive Directors, Luís Prazeres and Kashim Tumsah, said: “Important decisions were made such as approving new technology for surveying and production of oil and gas in block 1 that will allow production to begin within an 18-month period,”

The JDA also approved a review of the legal framework for the joint development area, “to attract new investors and re-launch operations in the area,”

It however, scheduled a meeting in Sao Tome for May to discuss fishing resources and security in the area.
The statement also said that the JDA cannot be considered to be “a failed project” because its has not, “after 12 years, reached the targets it set out at the beginning.”

The JDZ had earlier been scheduled to begin production in 2010, but the goal was not realisable due to some issues that militated against further implementation of the project.
The treaty for joint oil exploration in the zone, signed in February 2001, divided revenue from the area as 60 per cent for Nigeria and 40 per cent for Sao Tome and Principe.

The project faced the first hurdle few years later when Nigeria accused the Sao Tome government of trying to make the signing of the contract unviable, a charge denied by the Sao Tome authorities.
The Sao Tome government said that Nigeria was attempting to pressure it into finishing the contract process, without being aware of alleged last minute changes implemented by one of bloc 4’s operators.
Since then, oil production has not started in the waters of the nation, even as future oil revenues are expected to revolutionise the Sao Tome’s economy.

The largest expectations for a future oil production in Sao Tome and Principe are so far connected to the joint development zone of 34.504 square kilometres. The zone is located close to some of the region’s major oil producing areas in the exclusive territorial waters of Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.

The presence of similar geological conditions in the Nigeria-Sao Tome zone has made experts assume that the joint zone holds between six and 12 billion barrels of crude oil.