Submission to Society of Petroleum Engineers

Afren plc (AFR LN)

Submission of technical papers to Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)

London, 21 May 2012 - Afren plc ("Afren" or the "Company") announces that it submitted two technical papers at the SPE Production and Operations Conference and Exhibition held in Doha, Qatar, on 14th - 16th May 2012.

Afren has submitted two papers at the SPE production and operations conference and exhibition. The focal topic of the conference was "Production optimisation challenges: meeting global energy demands". Addressing this theme the following papers were submitted by Afren:

·; "Application of integrated production modeling for production surveillance, allocation and optimisation"

·; "The design, implementation and use of inflow control devices (ICD) for improving the production performance of horizontal wells"

Background

The SPE is the largest individual-member organisation serving managers, engineers, scientists and other professionals worldwide in the upstream segment of the oil and gas industry. The SPE is a key resource for technical knowledge related to the oil and gas exploration and production industry and provides services through publications, events, training courses. Income from SPE events and services are invested back into SPE to support many other society programs.

Iain Wright, Technical Director of Afren, commented:

"The submission of our two technical papers at this high profile SPE event recognises how at Afren we are effectively applying available technologies to optimise the economic recovery of oil, and our commitment to technical excellence".

Notes to Editors

Afren plc

Afren is an independent upstream 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 29 assets across 12 countries spanning the full cycle E&P value chain. Afren is currently producing from its assets offshore Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire and holds further interests in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, the Joint Development Zone of Nigeria - São Tomé & Príncipe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Seychelles, Tanzania and South Africa. For more information please refer to www.afren.com.