ERHC Energy Inc. Issues Update on Exploration Plans for Kenya Block 11A
Infrastructure development well underway and drilling rig mobilized in advance of late March spud date
HOUSTON, February 16, 2016 – ERHC Energy Inc. (OTCMKTS:ERHED), a publicly traded American company with oil and gas assets in Sub-Saharan Africa, today issued the following update on exploration progress in Kenya Block 11A as well as other matters from Dr. Peter Ntephe, president and chief executive officer.
To ERHC Shareholders:
I am pleased to update the investment community and other interested parties on ERHC Energy Inc.
1. Kenya Block 11A
a) We continue to work relentlessly toward a spud date for the Tarach-1 well near the end of the first quarter of 2016.
b) The rig is being mobilized to the drill site where concreting work and installation of conductors have already been completed. The contracting parties have completed over 80 kilometers (50 miles) of access road.
c) The Tarach-1 well is designed to drill from a 20-inch surface casing through intermediate casings down to 2,442 meters and set a seven-inch liner down to total depth (TD) of 3,000 meters.
d) As disclosed previously, the Tarach-1 prospect's mean estimate of oil prospective unrisked resources is 66 million barrels. Mean unrisked prospective resources of all prospects and leads in Block 11A totals 662 million barrels.
e) ERHC holds a 35 percent interest in Block 11A. As previously disclosed, ERHC is obligated, under existing agreements, to pay 25 percent of its proportionate share of the costs of well and is carried for the remaining 75 percent of its proportionate share. ERHC has paid all cash calls relating to its obligations for the costs of the well to date.
2. First Quarter Reporting and General Meeting
a) ERHC's quarterly Form 10-Q is being finalized. As is the practice, shareholders will be able to access it as soon as it is filed at http://erhc.com/secfilings/.
b) The Form 10-Q includes an update on the operational status of ERHC's other onshore and offshore oil exploration Blocks in Chad and the Gulf of Guinea.
c) Many thanks to the shareholders who participated – either in person or through proxy – in ERHC's special meeting of shareholders in December. Shareholders approved a 100:1 reverse stock split, which became effective in mid-January. In the past week, the Company's stock symbol has returned to "ERHE," dropping the "D" that had been added temporarily to indicate the reverse split had occurred.
d) For more information, please visit ERHC's online database of SEC filings at http://erhc.com/secfilings/.
We thank you for your continued interest in ERHC.
Sincerely,
Peter Ntephe
President and Chief Executive Officer
About ERHC Energy
ERHC Energy Inc. is a Houston-based independent oil and gas company focused on growth through high impact exploration in Africa and the development of undeveloped and marginal oil and gas fields. ERHC is committed to creating and delivering significant value for its stockholders, investors and employees, and to sustainable and profitable growth through risk balanced smart exploration, cost efficient development and high margin production. For more information, visit www.erhc.com.
Cautionary Statement
This press release contains statements concerning ERHC Energy Inc.'s future operating milestones, future drilling operations, the planned exploration and appraisal program, future prospects, future investment opportunities and financing plans, future stockholders' meetings as well as other matters that are not historical facts or information. Such statements are inherently subject to a variety of risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, projected, expressed or implied. A discussion of the risk factors that could impact these areas and the Company's overall business and financial performance can be found in the Company's reports and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors include, among others, those relating to the Company's ability to exploit its commercial interests in Kenya, Chad, the JDZ and the Exclusive Economic Zone of São Tomé and Príncipe, general economic and business conditions, changes in foreign and domestic oil and gas exploration and production activity, competition, changes in foreign, political, social and economic conditions, regulatory initiatives and compliance with governmental regulations and various other matters, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Given these concerns, investors and analysts should not place undue reliance on these statements. Each of the above statements speaks only as of the date of this press release. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any of the above statements is based.