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).