ERHC owns the Nigerian subsidiaries. If we had Americans or Europeans in charge nobody would give it a moment's thought but with the Nigerian Scorpian still pulling the strings and promising not to sting the frog, and with the history of other shell companies designed to enrich the few at the expense of the many (Godsonic, Feltang, Starcrest ring any bells?) it's only natural to be suspicious.
Strassenheim: I missed that reference to "Nigerian" company. It is incorrect. The legal reason for the corporate structure is that JDZ petroleum regulations require incorporation of local subsidiaries in Nigeria or STP.The locally incorporated subsidiaries are the 3 companies named "ERHC Energy Nigeria JDZ Block 2" to 4. They are locally incorporated but wholly owned by two other companies, one of which is wholly owned by the American company ERHC Energy. More detail can be found at http://www.erhc.com/en/art/?43 Sorry for the misunderstanding.