Contact Information: Contact: Dan Keeney, APR DPK Public Relations 832-467-2904
ERHC Energy Inc. Technical Partner Commences Exploration Campaign
| Source: ERHC Energy Inc.
HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwire - August 26, 2009) - ERHC Energy Inc. (OTCBB : ERHE ), a publicly
traded American company with oil and gas assets in the highly prospective
Gulf of Guinea off the coast of West Africa, today announced that
exploratory drilling is underway in Block 4 of the Nigeria-São Tomé and
Príncipe Joint Development Zone (JDZ) in which ERHC has a 19.5 percent
interest. The Company's technical partner, Addax Petroleum Corporation, the
operator in JDZ Block 4, has announced the spudding of the Kina Prospect.
"The start of drilling in our JDZ Blocks represents an important step
toward realizing the Company's vision after more than a decade of hard
work," said Peter Ntephe, chief operating officer with ERHC. "We are very
excited that we are on the cusp of realizing the value of a portion of
ERHC's portfolio of oil and gas assets in the Gulf of Guinea."
Another significant development is the change of operator in JDZ Block 3,
in which ERHC has a 10 percent interest. Addax has announced that it has
acquired the 51 percent interest formerly held by Anadarko and will be the
operator of JDZ Block 3.
The drilling campaign is being conducted using Transocean's Deepwater
Pathfinder, a fifth generation dynamically positioned deepwater drilling
rig capable of drilling in water depths up to 3,048 meters. Addax plans to
drill the "Kina" and "Lemba" prospects in JDZ Blocks 4 and 3, respectively,
using the Deepwater Pathfinder.
In 2009, the independent engineering firm, Netherland, Sewell & Associates,
Inc. (NSAI) estimated ERHC's unrisked prospective resources in JDZ Blocks
2, 3 and 4 totaled more than 336 million barrels of oil (P50). The NSAI
report estimated ERHC risked prospective resources in JDZ Blocks 2, 3 and 4
totaled 135.5 million barrels of oil.
ERHC Energy has interests in six of the nine Blocks in the offshore JDZ.
The Company has additional interests in the territorial waters of
Democratic Republic of São Tomé & Príncipe known as the Exclusive Economic
Zone (EEZ).
About ERHC Energy
ERHC Energy Inc. is a Houston-based independent oil and gas company focused
on growth through high impact exploration in the highly prospective Gulf of
Guinea and the development of undeveloped and marginal oil and gas fields.
ERHC is committed to creating and delivering significant value for its
shareholders, investors and employees, and to sustainable and profitable
growth through risk balanced smart exploration, cost efficient development
and high margin production. For more information, visit www.erhc.com.
Cautionary Statement
This press release contains statements concerning ERHC Energy Inc.'s future
operating milestones, future drilling operations, the planned exploration
and appraisal program, future prospects, future investment opportunities
and financing plans, future shareholders' meetings, response to the Senate
Subcommittee investigation, developments in the SEC investigation of the
Company and related proceedings, as well as other matters that are not
historical facts or information. Such statements are inherently subject to
a variety of risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those anticipated, projected, expressed
or implied. A discussion of the risk factors that could impact these areas
and the Company's overall business and financial performance can be found
in the Company's reports and other filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. These factors include, among others, those relating to the
Company's ability to exploit its commercial interests in the JDZ and the
exclusive territorial waters of São Tomé and Príncipe, general economic and
business conditions, changes in foreign and domestic oil and gas
exploration and production activity, competition, changes in foreign,
political, social and economic conditions, regulatory initiatives and
compliance with governmental regulations and various other matters, many of
which are beyond the Company's control. Given these concerns, investors and
analysts should not place undue reliance on these statements. Each of the
above statements speaks only as of the date of this press release. The
Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release
publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement to
reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or any
change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any of the above
statements is based.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors -- The United States Securities and
Exchange Commission permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with
the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated
by actual production or conclusive formation tests to be economically and
legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions. We use
certain terms on this Web site, such as "recoverable reserves potential,"
that the SEC's guidelines generally prohibit us from including in filings
with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure
in our Form 10-K. You may review our filing with the SEC at the following
Web site:
www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000799235.