Heading North: ERHE Adds Another 16%

Warming to their task, ERHC Energy investors today drove the price up $08.8 cents, or 16 percent, yielding a $10,827.72 gain for the ERHC On The Move portfolio of 123,040 shares, and setting the stage for dramatic price increases next week as awards grow closer still.

It was the second time since January 1 that ERHE has gained more than $10,000 for us in a single day.

The good news for investors might not have been the gain, however, but the fact that the stock moved so far and so fast on a relatively low-volume day. Earlier this week, ERHE gained $0.06 on a pace-shattering Tuesday when more than 7 million shares were sold at the end of a three-day weekend.

As we grow closer to awards and news of our likely oil bonanza in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea spreads, it is not at all impoossible that we will see days where volume rises in excess of 10 million shares and price changes of $0.20 or more are common.

What the persistent, plucky and patient longs in ERHE have done is build themselves a lofty launch pad for major news of awards in the Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Zone.

And with the treaty-backed preferential rights to 560 million barrels of oil - and the possibility of rights to billions more if we and our drilling consortia are made operators in one or more blocks - it is difficult to estimate how high the ERHE rocket may go.

As of 4pm EST today, there was as yet no confirmation of ExxonMobil's choices as to the exercise of its two 25 percent preferential rights in any of the five blocks on offer, nor any follow-up from the Joint Development Authority on the earlier suggestions by JDA spokesman Sam Dimka that awards could come next week.

Even if they do not come next week, the launch pad could still grow higher, giving investors a takeoff point somewhere in the $0.80 range.

Regardless of that, however, today's action validates the faith and dogged persistence - and the plain good luck - of ERHC Energy investors in the investment community.

The final volume was 3,703,500 shares, with 700,000 of those changing hands in the last 15 minutes towards a close of $0.638, just two-tenths of a cent below the high minutes earlier of $0.64.