ERHC Energy Inc (ERHE)

[RUBY1100]

Noble hopes to drill JDZ BL 4 in mid-2007

In the september 28th Conference Reports (part one) http://www.oilbarrel.com/home.html

Amy McLellan writes in the introduction to the Centurion presentation:

Egyptian gas isn’t the only story at Centurion. It also holds exploration acreage in Tunisia, where a rig is now moving onto location to drill the offshore Amira prospect, and in the Joint Development Zone between Nigeria and Sao Tome & Principe. The latter, Arrata explained, has the claim to fame of being the third smallest island in the world and he admitted he didn’t know where it was either until Centurion’s exploration manager got them interested. The company has a 7.5 per cent net stake in Block 4 in the JDZ, quite a coup for the AIM and TSX-listed firm.

“This is a hot area,” said Arrata. “All the big boys bid on these lands, with Chevron bidding US$132 million for the block to the north of us.”

The signing bonus on Block 4 was US$90 million, which reflects the prize thought to lie under these Gulf of Guinea waters. “We have mapped six prospects on this block, with a combined reserve range of 2.5 to 3.5 billion barrels and two of those prospects contain half of those reserves,” said Arrata. “This is why the big boys are after it.”

The operator Noble Energy hopes to start drilling in mid-2007: success here could really catapult Centurion into a different league.
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