Oranto was "designated" by whom? By Oranto. So that's the same as declaring themselves operator... so you're splitting hairs.
When ERHC was "designated" as operator for block 11 in a PSC did they get a license extension? Nope.
When Oranto was "designated" as operator for block 3 in a PSC did they get an extension? Nope... not until last November.
So your assumption that you need to be designated as an operator on a block to get an extension is false and maybe that's the reason ERHC didn't do it for block 4.