Aban Abraham To Set Sail In March? That's What Nigeria's Punch Says

I take it was a hopeful grain of salt, as it's quite contrary to what we've heard from the company and from Addax, but according to Daily Punch, a leading Nigerian newspaper, the Aban Abraham drillship is setting sail this month for the Gulf of Huineau and our blocks in the JDZ.

And the source of this knopwledge? None other than our new Controller, Sylvan Odobolu, whom we all hope was either right or misquoted.

Apparently gambling on the latter, the share price moved up one cent today, giving me an $810 gain - I bought 5,3000 shares in the recent downdraft.

If a March sailing date means an April arrival and a June or July drilling schedule - and for oil selling for $105 a barrel, it's probably worth whatever someone would have to pay to get the ship going - the share price will movbe big time in the near term, which is quite unexpected.

What we have to do next is get Mr. Odobulu on the phone to confirm this news, and to get Addax to put out a release stating it. Then, baby, it's badda badda bing!

ERHC promises bright future for stakeholders
By Clara Nwachukwu
Published: Thursday, 6 Mar 2008United States-based, ERHC Energy Incorporated has promised a bright future for its investors and other stakeholders, as its investments begin to yield fruits.

The Controller, ERHC, Mr. Sylvan Odobulu, who spoke with our correspondent on Wednesday, said the investment port folion of the company was quite big, adding that its operations were now being carried out in a more transparent manner.

He said the company had been involved in a lot of exploration activities on some of its oil blocks located in the Joint Development Zone, operated by the governments of Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe.

According to Odobulu, ”We and our technical partners have been carrying out a lot of exploration, but we have not yet reached production.

”We have signed three production sharing contracts for JDZ blocks 2, 3, and 4 with the Joint Development Authority.”

He insisted that the blocks held huge prospects, adding that they would be developed according to plans, given the calibre of ERHC‘s technical and financial partners.

He said, ”For block 2, we have Asian giant, Sinopec, and they are carrying us through, as there are no expenses borne by ERHC until they recover costs and we share the profit.

For block 3, the operator is Anardako Woodland Texas, and for block 4, is Addax. They are all carrying us through all the expenses.”

He added that both Sinopec and Addax have found a drill ship, Abraham, for their respective blocks. He said the Abraham had been on a re-work and would sail to the JDZ this March.

He, however, said the company still had other PSCs, which had not yet been signed for blocks 5, 6 and 9, due to delays in sourcing for competent technical partners.

In spite of the initial protests against the company‘s investments in the JDZ, Odobulu, insisted, the ERHC had enjoyed tremendous public support, demonstrated by the number of visitors to its stand at the just-concluded Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference.

Although the company was participating for the first time, he said, it was one of the sponsors of the conference, and had attracted a lot of interests.