Trading Updates: Obasanjo Headed To Sao Tome Friday; ERHE Opens Strong, Up $0.03; JDA Confirms Awards This Week; Menezes Files Libel Suit

ERHC Energy (OTC BB symbol: ERHE) leapt at the opening bell today as the prospect of awards this week predicted by four different news organizations gave fresh hope to investors that their long political nightmare may now be over.

The latest comes from mutwadadi's 3:14pm Comment. He tells us Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is going to Sao Tome on Friday; for most if us, that's the signal that awards are really coming by the end of the week. Many thanks, mutwadadi; you have been our most reliable poster on such matters from the very first.

PetroleumAfrica is the latest to weigh in with a May 18 story promising awards this week, and there's a solid mention of ERHC Energy. Here is their take:

JDZ Awards Coming Soon
For companies waiting to hear if they were successful in their bidding for the five oil blocks put on offer by the Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Authority, the wait may soon be over. According to an official from the JDA, winners of the five blocks will be announced before the end of the week.

The Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) of the JDA met in April and decided on the winners that had been approved by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his counterpart Fradique Des Menezes of Sao Tome and Principe. According to the official, the winners are chosen based on competence and ability to operate in deep offshore waters.

ExxonMobil reserved its 25% options on two blocks among the five on offer in the 2004 bid round because it could not be given the operatorship of the blocks in line with its wishes. American oil firm ERHC Energy, in which indigenous firm Chrome Energy has a major stake, had similar options which it exercised and validated with the JDA.

An update from Markvol1 on Raging Bull's ERHE message board reconfirms the good news we heard in three separate news reports last night that awards will be announced this week:

********UPDATE*************

Just spoke with 2 sources at the JDA.

1st Source: Secretary of the JDA 011 234 9 524 1064

I asked him about the DRP's quote, "The winners will be announced before the end of the week." The Secretary of the JDA responded by saying this is accurate. I asked for the exact date and time of the awards announcement. He said it would be "at week's end." I asked if that meant Friday, Sat, or Sunday and he said to me "at week's end. Take it like that. It will be announced."

2nd Source: Source did not want to be named.

I asked about the news from last night stating that awards would be announced by end of this week. Source told me, "(JDA) is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel." When I asked about the day of awards announcement they said Friday is "MOST LIKELY."

Trading Updates: An $0.08 Gain
Update, 4pm, 5/18/05: ERHE closes at $0.70 on what may be the last day of "normalcy" before awards are announced. Closing volume is 2,192,500, and the ERHC On The Move portfolio of 123,040 bought an average of $0.4394 had a gain today of $4,306.40, and enjoys an overall gain of $31,880.52, or $0.26 a share. We've faced intense pressure on the home front to sell this week, amid all the doom 'n gloom, but we're glad we're going to be here when the price tops a dollar on Friday, May 20 (or so we believe).

Of 345 trades recorded by ADVFN at 4:01pm, 1,120,446 were Buys and 932,299 were sells, with 139,790 unidentified. Of the last 16 trades, only four were sells totaling 32,500 shares; the rest, and the last five trades, were buys totaling about 65,000 shares, with three of those Form T after-hours buys. Why anyone at all would sell after waiting so long for awards is a mystery to us.

Update, 3:58pm, 5/18/05: The price is $0.70, as lucky buyers get cheap shares and volume rises to 2,165,500. Now the price clicks up to $0.701, then to $0.70 as the Bid falls back to $0.695. Volume is 2,180,500, coming in fast and furious as the close grows near.

Update, 3:54pm, 5/18/05: Look for a big gap up tomorrow as word of President Obasanjo's Friday trip to Sao Tome for awards is formally announced. The price is $0.705, the Ask, while the Bid is slightly higher at $0.70 and volume has crossed the 2.1 million mark.

Update, 3:32pm, 5/18/05: No price change, but volume has climbed to 1,932,600. The Bid and Ask are $0.695 x $0.70.

Update, 3:15pm, 5/18/05: The 3:15 Surge brings a 14K trade but no price change yet.

We see our friend Phil Nugent's GEECF is now at $0.48, probably near the bootom of this latest fall, and we expect it would be a good price to buy. The stock's shown a lot of resistance at this level. Luncn is served - be back soon.

Update, 3:08pm, 5/18/05: Volume is 1,787,800 shares and the price is $0.70, the Ask, and the Bid remains at $0.695 with nine minutes to got the 3:15pm Surge. It ought to be interesting today.

Update, 2:36pm, 5/18/05: The price has fallen to $0.695, the Bid, while the Ask is now $0.70. Volume has climbed to 1,768,000 shares.

Update, 2:13pm, 5/18/05: At 2pm with 267 trades under our belts, Buyers continue to lead seller by 845,647 Buys to 788,259 Sells, with 90,200 shares unidentified.

Update, 2:13pm, 5/18/05: Volume is 1,726,600 and the price is $0.70, the Bid, while the Ask returns to $0.705.

Update, 2:02pm, 5/18/05: The price is $0.705, and the Bid and the Ask are both at $0.70. Volume has climbed to 1,721,600 shares as investors finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Update, 11:19am, 5/18/05: The price has retreated from its $0.748 high to $0.70, while the Bid has dropped back to $0.70 and the Ask to $0.705. Volume is 984,415. Gotta go to the doctor's now.

Update, 11:03am, 5/18/05: The price is $0.745, the new Bid $0.74, and the Ask is $0.741 as the dramatic improvement continues. Volume is running to a healthy 772,645.

Update, 10:45am, 5/18/05: My friend Antonio Villaraigosa has been elected Mayor of Los Angeles! Vaya con Dios, Antonio!

The price is $0.71 now, the Ask, with the Bid at $0.70 and volume of 411,385.

Update, 10:37am, 5/18/05: The price is $0.70, the Ask, while the Bid is at $0.69 and volume is 369,785. My father fell and cut his arm, so I have to bring him to the ER. I'll be back in an hour or so, I hope.

Update, 10:20am, 5/18/05: Devon, Pioneer and Noble are up $01.00, $0.52 and $1.11, respectively - as good news leaks to their investors first? ERHE is at $0.69, the Bid, while ther Ask has slipped to $0.695.
Update, 10:08am, 5/18/05: We're back at $0.70, with the Bid and Ask unchanged a tenth-cent apart and volume 205,585 shares.

Update, 10:06am, 5/18/05: All unchanged.

Update, 10:03am, 5/18/05: Volume soars to 200,885 as the price hits $0.70 and then slips back to $0.699, the new Bid, with the Ask still a tenth-cent higher at $0.70.

Update, 9:57am, 5/18/05: The price slips to $0.69, the new Bid, but the Ask stays at $0.70 as volume reaches 182,885 shares.

Update, 9:54am, 5/18/05: We're at $0.70 now, on volume of 176,885.

Update, 9:53am, 5/18/05: Voila, ici! The Ask is at $0.70 and the Bid at $0.695, on volume of 171,885 shares.

Update, 9:50am, 5/18/05: Now 20 minutes into the day, we're up 5 percent and in our opinion likely to improve much more. Volume is 169,385, with the Bid and Ask $0.695 x $0.698.

Update, 9:46am, 5/18/05: The price is $0.698. Volume hits 161,185 with the Bid higher at $0.695 and the Ask at $0.698.

Update, 9:43am, 5/18/05: All indicators unchanged.

Update, 9:37am, 5/18/05: The price goes to $0.695, the new Ask, while the Bid is unchanged and volume hits a respectable 137,500.

Update, 9:37am, 5/18/05: The price is up $0.03 at $0.69, the Ask, with volume at 133.200 and the Bid at $0.685.


The tide has apparently shifted in Sao Tome, with President Fradique de Menezes going on the offensive today as he filed a slander suit against Carlos Tiny, the Sao Tome left-wing politician who noisily charged that Menezes is a shareholder of ERHC Energy.

The report is from the globe-spanning Portuguese news agency Lusa:

18-05-2005 12:09:00.
Fonte LUSA.
Notícia SIR-7010368
Temas:

Sao Tome: Menezes to sue main party leader who alleged oil wrongdoings

Sao Tome, May 18 (Lusa) - President Fradique de Menezes of Sao Tome and Principe said Wednesday that he is filing a slander suit against a leader of the largest MLSTP party over allegations that he made personal financial gain from the allocation of offshore oil blocks.

In a presidential communiqué, Menezes said Carlos Tiny, an influential member of the MLSTP and the president's main rival in 2001 elections, had made the defamatory comments at a press conference earlier this month.

The remarks by Tiny had "affected the honor and dignity of the president", added the statement.

Tiny had alleged that Menezes breached legislation over transparency in the management of Sao Tome's Gulf of Guinea oilfield shared with Nigeria.

The MLSTP grandee's complaints were that Menezes had steered negotiations to derive personal gain and also created conflict of interests by naming his chief of staff, a shareholder in a small US company involved in the award process, to take part in negotiations.

The announcement on which companies will be chosen to operate the offshore oil blocks in Sao Tome and Nigeria's Joint Development Zone has been successively held up due to political infighting in the microstate and allegations of high-level corruption in the process.

Natural Resources Minister Arlindo Carvalho resigned Monday, saying it was "impossible to work in a climate of allegations of irregularities in the oil negotiations".

Menezes himself stood down from the country's National Petroleum Council last weekend, saying he wanted to "avoid confusion", but would continue to exercise a "gatekeeper" role in the awarding of offshore exploration rights.

RCN/CJB.

Lusa