A Triumph Over Adversity Brings Offor To The Brink of Greatness

Drilling for oil in the Gulf of Guinea's Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Zone has begun, ERHC Energy announced today, bringing to a close a long, difficult and contentious struggle for concession rights in the JDZ that often threatened to derail the entire company.

Today's events are nothing short of a grand tribute to the vision and the determination of Sir Emeka Offor, the Nigerian multimillionaire whose Chrome holding company now controls 51% of ERHC Energy shares. He overcame huge political and financial obstacles - including numerous threats to bankrupt and jail him - to emerge triumphant today at the company's critical moment in history.

With the federal grand jury probe in Dallas apparently now behind it - the company was not a factor in the Rep. William Jefferson case, as many pundits had proposed - the greater moment of truth awaits: Will there be oil in Blocks 2 and 4, the two zones believes to be among the richest prizes in petroleum history, albeit far under the sea.

While the price of ERHE was down a cent or two today from its morning high of $0.88, an announcement on the company's success or failure in the two blocks being drilled will either send the shares zooming into the stratosphere or down into the deepest trenches of the sea.

On behalf of all who have believed in, studied, written. srgued and read about this stock with me since ERHC on the Move began in 2003, I salute those who have made it to the finish line, and Sir Emeka Offor, whose daring and vision made your profits possible.

Regrettably, due to the impact of the recession, I came to the end of our journey with 100 shares, purchased at $0.225, and a profit of $54. Despite the fact that this column involved thousands of hours of work over the years, and cost me a fortune when I was ethically forced to divest my shares at the lowest price available when a statement I made proved to be costly to readers, the effort was worth it for what it taught me about the industry, Africa, and competition in the business world. I will always remember the excitement of the long struggle to reach this day. May God bless and keep all of those who have arrived here safely, and provide His solace to all who fell along the way.

Here is the company's press release upon this historic occasion:

ERHC Energy Inc. Technical Partner Commences Exploration Campaign

Aug 26, 2009 11:52:32 (ET)


HOUSTON, TX, Aug 26, 2009 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- ERHC Energy Inc. (ERHE, Trade ), a publicly traded American company with oil and gas assets in the highly prospective Gulf of Guinea off the coast of West Africa, today announced that exploratory drilling is underway in Block 4 of the Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Zone (JDZ) in which ERHC has a 19.5 percent interest. The Company's technical partner, Addax Petroleum Corporation, the operator in JDZ Block 4, has announced the spudding of the Kina Prospect.

"The start of drilling in our JDZ Blocks represents an important step toward realizing the Company's vision after more than a decade of hard work," said Peter Ntephe, chief operating officer with ERHC. "We are very excited that we are on the cusp of realizing the value of a portion of ERHC's portfolio of oil and gas assets in the Gulf of Guinea."

Another significant development is the change of operator in JDZ Block 3, in which ERHC has a 10 percent interest. Addax has announced that it has acquired the 51 percent interest formerly held by Anadarko and will be the operator of JDZ Block 3.

The drilling campaign is being conducted using Transocean's Deepwater Pathfinder, a fifth generation dynamically positioned deepwater drilling rig capable of drilling in water depths up to 3,048 meters. Addax plans to drill the "Kina" and "Lemba" prospects in JDZ Blocks 4 and 3, respectively, using the Deepwater Pathfinder.

In 2009, the independent engineering firm, Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. (NSAI) estimated ERHC's unrisked prospective resources in JDZ Blocks 2, 3 and 4 totaled more than 336 million barrels of oil (P50). The NSAI report estimated ERHC risked prospective resources in JDZ Blocks 2, 3 and 4 totaled 135.5 million barrels of oil.

ERHC Energy has interests in six of the nine Blocks in the offshore JDZ. The Company has additional interests in the territorial waters of Democratic Republic of Sao Tome & Principe known as the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

ERHC Rival Hyperdynamics Soars

After some key hires and a live teleconference, ERHC Energy's friendly rival in the West African waters has soared more than $0.50 in three days.

The stock had been trading as low as $0.53 just 10 days ago, and hit $1.10 a few minutes ago, up from $0.93 at the open. It had closed on Monday at $0.73, and at $0.62 last Wedneday.

Along with ERHE FEEC, it is one of the three smaller oil securities we have watched and traded over the past 6 years with intermittent success.

The ciompany on Aug. 11 announced significant new personnel additions, including geology and marketing experts from BP and Amoco, respectively.

A recording of the HYD teleconference and several newer press releases are available on the Hyperdynamics Website.

FEEC has also moved over the past two months, from a low of about $0.22 to around $0.36 today - a good 50% move for the mathematically challenged.

None, however, can compare to ERHE's spectacular 600%+ gain since January, when it was selling at $0.11 and this analyst strongly recommended a buy.

Here is the Aug.10 release on new hires:

Hyperdynamics Expands Its Technical Staff With the Addition of Former BP Chief Geologist David Roberts and Exploration Manager Edward Shaw

Press Release
Source: Hyperdynamics Corporation
On Monday August 10, 2009, 10:52 am EDT

HOUSTON, Aug. 10, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hyperdynamics Corporation (the "Company") (NYSE AMEX:HDY) announced today that it continued to expand and strengthen its geological and geophysical (G&G) technical staff with the addition of Dr. David Roberts as Senior Geological Advisor and Mr. Edward Shaw as Exploration Manager.

Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
HDY 1.30 0.00


{"s" : "hdy","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""} Dr. David Roberts is a recognized world leader in continental margin research and deepwater frontier areas. As a senior explorationist with BP from 1981 to 2003, Roberts held numerous high profile positions including, Distinguished Exploration Advisor, Global Exploration Advisor, and Chief Geologist. Prior to joining BP, Dr. Roberts was with the Institute of Oceanographic Science (IOS) in Wormley, UK. Dr. Roberts is the founder and publisher of Marine and Petroleum Geology and an instructor for many influential national and international geo-science committees such as the NERC and AAPG. Roberts is a nonexecutive director of Premier Oil, Getech Plc and Medserv Plc.

Mr. Edward Shaw is a geophysicist with over 25 years experience in over 15 countries including the US, Egypt, Iran, Oman, China, Dubai, Australia and Trinidad and Tobago. Shaw started his career with Amoco and was instrumental in the discovery and development of numerous on and off shore fields. Mr. Shaw has demonstrated exceptional knowledge in the interpretation and mapping of prospects in offshore frontier areas.

CEO of Hyperdynamics, Ray Leonard said, "After reviewing the geology and geophysics of offshore Guinea, David and Ed agreed to join our team, another indication of the prospectivity. Working with and under the direction of Exploration VP James Spear they will be documenting the petroleum system and prospects in the area.

Rep. Jefferson Convicted On 11 of 16 Counts Of Bribery

At a trial where ERHC Energy was never mentioned, Rep. William Jefferson fought to put his many African relationships in a better light - and failed. A federal jury yesterday convicted the infamous Louisiana congressman on 11 of 16 counts of bribery after an investigation that began with the discover of $90,000 carefully wrapped amid household food items in a deep freeze at his home.

The cold cash eventually led investigators back along a money trail that originated in deals involving telecommunications contracts in Africa. Along the way, it looked at one time that Jefferson's pursuers would take down Abu Abubakar, the Vice President of Nigeria in the previous Obasanjo administration, but left a wide range of entities - although not all of them, as several turned state's witness - free and clear.

The outcome would seem to throw into doubt the investigation of ERHC Energy that began with a raid on the company's files in Houston two years ago that uncovered a William Hefferson file - probably a newspaper clipping - proceeded through a series of damning articles by Ken Silverstein on Harper's Online and a long hit piece in the New Yorker, and finally ended up going nowhere.

Meanwhile, ERHE, the company's stock, has jumped nearly 700% this year, from a low od $0.10 to $0.71 roday, with bright oprospects for the dollar mark and beyond by the end of this month as drilling finally begins on ERHC concessions in the Gulf of Guinea.

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