30th Mar 2005 08:45
Afren PLC30 March 2005 AFREN PLC ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF BLOCK 1 JDZ TRANSACTION Afren PLC ("Afren" or the "Company"), an independent oil and gas company,announces the completion of a Share Sale Agreement giving it a participation inan effective 4.41 per cent interest in 'Block 1' of the Nigeria - Sao Tome &Principe Joint Development Zone "JDZ". 'Block 1' was awarded in April 2004 to a consortium of ChevronTexaco JDZ Limited(51% and Operator); Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria - Sao Tome "One"Limited (40%) and Dangote Energy Equity Resources Limited (9%), (a Joint Venturebetween the Dangote Group of Nigeria and Energy Equity Resources ("EER")). Afrenhas concluded a participation in EER's effective 4.41% interest in Block 1. TheConsortium members have agreed to pay a signature bonus of $123 million for theright to develop Block 1 under under a long-term Production Sharing Agreement,which was signed on 1 February 2005, and became effective on 22 March 2005. 'Block 1' has been identified by Exploration Consultants Ltd, an independent oiland gas exploration consultancy, as a proven hydrocarbon area which has relevantcharacteristics to other existing discoveries adjacent to Nigerian territory andwhich has the potential for hosting "Giant" hydrocarbon reserves, comparable onan individual prospect basis to those already discovered in the region. In particular structures are recognized in Block 1 that can be correlated byseismic data to discovery structures in adjacent Oil Prospecting Lease ("OPL")246 in Nigeria, approximately 20 kilometres north of Block 1, where reporteddiscoveries include the 1 billion barrel Akpo field. Afren was formed in 2004 by a group of oil and gas professionals withsignificant experience in the African oil and gas sector to establish Afren as aleading oil and gas group within Africa. Shares in the Company started tradingon the London Stock Exchange (AIM) on Monday 14 March 2005. The Company is led by Guido Pas, acting Chairman, Bert Cooper, executivedirector, Egbert Imomoh, executive director and former Deputy MD of ShellNigeria, and supported by non-executive director Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, the formerSecretary General of OPEC . The Company is also being supported by the IFC(International Finance Corporation) of the World Bank Group, and by SamuelDossou, a former board Chairman of OPEC, and one of the leading Africaninvestors in quoted oil and gas companies. Afren was created to build initially through acquisition a leading explorationand production company within the African oil and gas sector. The rationale ofthe Company is to establish Afren as the pre-eminent independent pan-African oiland gas company, through the leveraging of key strategic relationships and localexpertise. The Company will initially highlight exploration and productionopportunities in the Gulf of Guinea region. Bert Cooper, Executive Director of Afren PLC commented: "We are delighted that the Company has completed its first transaction, which webelieve offers enormous potential. Our participation in Block 1 is an excellentexample of the Company's strategy to work with high quality partners such asChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil in exploiting highly pedigreed prospective assetopportunities. This is the first step by our experienced team in turning Afreninto the leading independent pan-African oil and gas exploration and productioncompany." 30th March 2005 For further information, please contact: Pelham Public RelationsJames Henderson [email protected] +44 020 7743 6673Charles Vivian [email protected] +44 020 77436672 Editors' Notes 1. Management Team Biographical details of the Directors are as follows: Guido Pas (Non-executive Director and acting Chairman) Mr. Pas is an international executive with a background in senior financial andinvestment management roles relating to African natural resources. Following anearly career as a commodity and trade finance officer at Chase Manhattan Bank,Mr. Pas was a founding partner of the Addax and Oryx Group, one of the premierinternational petroleum marketing and producing companies operating in Africa.He has participated in the development of several listed mining companiesfocused on Africa and the former Soviet republics, including SAMAX Resources andOXUS Resources. Currently, Mr. Pas is Chairman and CEO of Mano River Resources,a dual listed (TSXV/AIM) gold and diamond exploration company, which is activein Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. He is also manages Synergy Resources Fund,an unlisted fund investing in mineral resources, and Vector XXI Finance, aGeneva-based investment advisory company. Ethelbert Julius Llewellyn Cooper (Executive Director) Mr. Cooper, a Liberian national, has been active in the African naturalresources sector for over 25 years. During the 1980s he devised and led aninitiative to restructure what, at the time, was Liberia's biggest industrialproject - an iron ore mining company with capital investment of over US$600million. At one time the company in question was Africa's largest stand-aloneproducer of iron ore. Mr. Cooper implemented the sequential and structured buyouts of Bethlehem SteelCorporation's and Granges International Mining's (an affiliate of AB Electrolux)interests in the project and, in the process, formed Liberia's miningparastatal, LIMINCO. Prior to the outbreak of civil war in Liberia LIMINCO'smanagement, marketing and financing needs were contracted to Mr. Cooper'scompanies. With a keen interest in oil and gas over the years, and with past andpresent involvement in the marketing of petroleum products, Mr. Cooper hasteamed up with Dr. Lukman to form Afren. Egbert Imomoh (Executive Director) Mr. Imomoh, a Nigerian national, has had 35 years' experience with the Shellgroup of companies, primarily in West Africa. Recently, Mr. Imomoh served asDeputy Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (Nigeria) ("SPDC"), one of the Shell group's largest operating companies, which isresponsible for operating a joint venture that produces approximately 1 millionbarrels of oil per day. Trained in Mechanical and Petroleum Engineering, Mr.Imomoh has held a wide variety of senior positions throughout the Shell groupfrom Chief Petroleum Engineer in SPDC to Technical and Planning Manager toDeputy MD of SPDC. Dr Rilwanu Lukman (Non-executive Director) Dr. Lukman is an internationally known and respected figure in the oil and gasindustry. He has more than 40 years experience in the industry and hasrelationships at the most senior levels of the industry around the world. Someof Dr. Lukman's key appointments have included: Secretary General of OPEC (5terms); President of OPEC (9 sessions); Nigerian Minister of PetroleumResources; Special Advisor to the Nigerian President for Oil and Gas; NigerianMinister of Foreign Affairs; Nigerian Minister of Mines, Nigerian Minister ofPower and Steel; and Founder and Chairman of the African Petroleum ProducersAssociation. Dr. Lukman is a non-executive director of Afren and has beeninstrumental in helping Afren develop its asset acquisition strategy. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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