Board Change

Afren plc (AFR LN)

Afren plc announces Board change

London, 30 December 2010

Afren plc ("Afren" or the "Company") announces that Constantine Ogunbiyi is to step down as Executive Director with effect from the 4th January 2011, following his appointment as Chief Executive of First Hydrocarbon Nigeria ("FHN"). FHN is the indigenous Nigerian upstream oil and gas company in which Afren holds a 45% interest. The Boards of Afren and FHN have agreed that the position will be a secondment to FHN for an initial period of 18 months.

Egbert Imomoh, Chairman of Afren, commented:

"We are very grateful for Mr Ogunbiyi's significant contribution to the Board since his appointment in January 2008. We wish Mr Ogunbiyi every success in this important role as Chief Executive of First Hydrocarbon Nigeria."

Chief (Dr) Oladele Fajemirokun, Director of FHN, commented:

"The FHN board is delighted to welcome Constantine Ogunbiyi as Chief Executive. Mr Ogunbiyi's significant Nigerian oil and gas experience will be invaluable to FHN's near term growth and development."  

About Afren

Afren is an African focused independent oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and constituent of the Financial Times Stock Exchange Index of the leading 250 UK listed companies. Afren has a portfolio of 27 assets across nine countries across the full cycle E&P value chain. Afren is currently producing from its assets offshore Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire, with the significant Ebok appraisal and development project due onstream in 2010 from Nigeria. Afren has exploration interests in Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, the Joint Development Zone of Nigeria - São Tomé & Príncipe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Seychelles. For further information please refer to www.afren.com.

For further information please refer to www.afren.com.

About FHN

In direct response to the Nigerian government's objective to increase the level of local participation in the oil and gas sector and in line with the Company's strategy, FHN was established in June 2009 with the support of two leading Nigerian financial institutions, First City Monument Bank Plc ("FCMB") and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc ("GTBank"). FHN fulfils the Nigerian government's criteria for indigenous operators, and in line with stated strategy it has and will seek to further acquire substantial oil and gas assets in Nigeria.

For further information please refer to www.fhnigeria.com.

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