ERHC's Oil and Gas Exploration Interests in Chad

ERHC’s Chad Acreage

On July 6, 2011, the Company announced that it had signed a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) on the three oil blocks with the Government of Chad. A PSC is an agreement that governs the relationship between ERHC (and any future joint-venture partners) and the Government of Chad in respect of exploration and production in the Blocks awarded to the Company. The initial period of exploration commenced on July 12, 2012 with the publication, in Chadian Government’s Gazette Principal, of the Exclusive Exploration Authorization, granted to ERHC by the Government of Chad.

During the quarter ended March 31, 2014, the Company received the arrêté (decree) of the President of Chad giving presidential seal of approval to the Company’s request to obtain oil exploration Block BDS 2008 and its voluntary relinquishment of the Manga and Chari-Ouest III Blocks.

Chad Operations Update

As of September 30, 2015, ERHC's exploration team is developing a Request for Proposals for a 2-D seismic acquisition program. The exploration team continues to work on securing regulatory approvals for the seismic program in ERHC's two focus areas. One is north of Esso's Tega and Maku discoveries in the Doseo basin and the other is east of and on trend with OPIC's Benoy-1 margin discovery in the Doba basin. Based on an earlier aero-magnetic and gravity survey and other available data, ERHC estimates total Petroleum Initially in Place (PIIP) for one of the two focus areas is 278 million barrels (with a high case of 876 million barrels).

Given the current environment and continued constraints on funding for oil exploration activities, one option we are exploring is the possibility of a right-to-earn partnership in exchange for seismic services. ERHC holds a 100 percent interest in BDS 2008. 

Focus Areas

ERHC's exploration focus is on Block BDS 2008 which measures 41,800 square kilometers or 10,329,000 acres. Within this block, two focus areas have been identified: 

• North of Esso’s Tega and Maku discoveries in the Doseo basin; and
• East of and on trend with OPIC’s Benoy-1 margin discovery in the Doba basin.

As the Company did with the JDZ and Kenya Block 11A, ERHC continues to explore a farm-out to spread risk. The Chad acreage is also within the scope of Deloitte Corporation Finance LLC (DCF)'s engagement and ERHC continues to work with DCF to find suitable farm-out or joint venture partners.

Work Program Phase 1 (5 years – June 2012 to June 2017)

Minimum Work	Minimum Expenditure	Status
Unspecified: annual work program to be proposed yearly by contractor	$15,000,000 in total for the exploration phase	EIA completed; Aero gravity and magnetic survey completed; 4,720 line kilometers of high precision gravity and magnetic data acquired by November 2014; Three leads identified; Seismic in preparation; 2D seismic on focus areas planned for 2016

Work Program Phase 2 (3 years)

Minimum Work	Minimum Expenditure	Status
Unspecified: annual work program to be proposed yearly by contractor	$1,000,000	Not yet arisen; ERHC proposes an exploration well in this period if Phase 1 G&G studies justify

More about ERHC Energy's operations:

Republic of Kenya. ERHC has a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with the Government of the Republic of Kenya on Block 11A in northwestern Kenya. The Block is in the vicinity of Block 10BB in which significant oil discoveries have recently been announced. East Africa has emerged in recent years as one of the most exciting, new oil provinces in the world with the discovery of over 1 billion barrels of recoverable oil in Uganda’s Block 1 (EA1), the Ngamia-1 oil discovery in Kenya, which is estimated to be bigger than the Ugandan discovery, and large gas discoveries, including the recent Zafarani find, offshore Tanzania. For more on ERHC's operations in Kenya, click here.

The Joint Development Zone (JDZ). ERHC has interests in six of the nine Blocks in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ), a 34,548 sq km area approximately 200 km off the coastline of Nigeria and São Tomé & Principe that is adjacent to several large petroleum discovery areas. For more on ERHC's operations in the JDZ, click here.