Addax Buys Overt Ventures 5% State In Block 4 for $10 Million, Lending A Boost To ERHC Stock

Oilphant's promise that "bigger news is coming" came true today when UpstreamOnline revealed that Addax Petroleum, our consortium partner in Blocks 2, 3 and 4 of the Nigeria-Sao Tiome and Principe Joint Development Zone, bought the rights to a 5 percent stake held by Nigerian independent Overt Ventures for a $10 million payment divided between the company and the Joint Development Authority.

The great thing about the deal is that by extension, it raises the value of ERHC's stake to a definable number. As in real estate, no one knows what a piece of property is worth until it is sold on the open market.

Here is the brief UpstreamOnline story, which has helped push ERHC Energy shares (OTC BB symbol: ERHE) up 3.29 percent this morning. At 1:10pm ET, ERHE shares were priced at $0.941 x $0.945 with the last at $0.95, the high of the day, on 1,677,429 shares of volume:

Addax boosts Block 4 stake

By Upstream staff

Addax Petroleum has boosted its interest in Block 4 of the Nigeria/Sao Tome Joint Development Zone (JDZ).

Addax said today it had acquired the 5% participating interest held by Overt Ventures, increasing its stake from 33.3% to 38.3%.

Addax will pay $10 million to Overt for the 5% interest plus $5 million to the Nigeria/Sao Tome & Principe Joint Development Authority, comprised of a $4.5 million signature bonus and $500,000 administration fee.

Addax president and chief executive Jean Claude Gandur said: "We believe that the JDZ offers world-class exploration potential. This acquisition follows our strategy of investing in the JDZ as a core exploration area for Addax."