Source Who First Told of Chevron Strike Says Drillships Have Moved; Geologist Says News Is Imminent; French News Agency Cites 'The Business' On Find

When ERHC On The Move first broke the story of a big find by ChevronTexaco in Block 1 of the Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Zone back in early February, our source was an independent energy consultant with friends aboard the drillship that was sinking the OBO-1 test well.

The news was quickly followed by reports from Jacinta Moran at Platt's and Barry Morgan at UpstreamOnline, and the rest is history.

Now, from the Wall Street Journal to the Financial Times, the story is getting out to everyone, and the original source of the news continues to celebrate.

Here is his latest note, like his first with the heading Big Oil:

Joe,

I mentioned way back that it was there and I expect a lot more PR`s to come. My friend that works for CVX in San Francisco tells me we`ll hear news of loggings from CVX this month. He still states that its big and drillship has moved to new location and started drilling already.

Best Regards,

The latest from our geologist friend - who owns several hundred thousand shares and has made nearly $250,000 so far - is that the Chevron news may be imminent:

Dear Joe, I think that something v. big is getting ready to happen vis a vis the Obo-1, heard from a friend in the industry who is down in the New Orleans area, maybe you can check it out thru your research sources, it is supposed to be very big news imminent, also i will be traveling between April 13 to April 23 into your area , perhaps a hookup?

Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse is citing The Business as its source for news that Chervon and Exxon have struck "big oil" in the Gulf of Guinea adjoining ERHC/Sinopec's Block 2:

AFX News Limited
Chevron, Exxon in major oil strike in Africa - report
03.26.2006, 11:41 AM

http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2006/03/26/afx2622145.html

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LONDON (AFX) - US oil giants ChevronTexaco Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp have made a major oil discovery in the West African island state of Sao Tome and Principe, The Business newspaper reported, citing an unnamed source.

The oil was found in the offshore Obo-1 well. Drilling results showed the hole could be holding more than a billion barrels worth of oil and gas.

The pair are to meet on Tuesday to plan their next moves, the article said.

Chevron is the operator of the field with a 51 pct stake, while Exxon holds 40 pct. The remaining 9 pct is owned by Nigeria's Dangote Energy Equity Resources and Afren.

mbe/hjp

But for the time being, we are working on the assumption that an article in The Business was not in error when it reported on Friday:

The companies would not be able to confirm the full extent of the discovery until they had drilled more wells. It took four wells before the full extent of the Akpo field had been proven.

See the full text of that story a few posts below.