ERHC Energy has come a long way from its roots as an environmental remediation company. In 1996, ERHC narrowed its focus and began operating solely as an independent oil and gas company. Following are some milestones ERHC has achieved as it makes progress toward maximizing corporate value and shareholder returns through exploration of its valuable oil and gas assets.

  • In May 1997, ERHC entered into a joint venture with São Tomé & Príncipe after identifying the possibility of significant reserves offshore.

  • In the spring of 2001, the governments of São Tomé & Príncipe and Nigeria reached an agreement over a long-standing maritime border dispute. Under the terms of the agreement, the two established the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) to govern commercial activities within the disputed boundaries.

  • On May 21, 2001, ERHC was awarded exploration and production rights in the São Tomé & Príncipe EEZ and the JDZ.

  • In April 2003, ERHC and Sao Tome & Principe entered into an Option Agreement in which ERHC relinquished certain financial interests in the JDZ in exchange for exploration rights in the same area.

  • In early 2006, ERHC entered into production sharing contracts for JDZ Blocks 2,3 and 4.

  • In August 2009, Addax Petroleum and Sinopec began a coordinated exploratory drilling campaign that stretched across JDZ Blocks 2, 3 and 4. A total of five wells were drilled.

  • In February 2010, the National Petroleum Agency of São Tomé & Príncipe (ANP-STP) on behalf of the Government of São Tomé and Principe confirmed the award to ERHC of 100 percent working interests in Blocks 4 and 11 of the EEZ.

  • In 2011, the government of the Republic of Chad awarded ERHC Block BDS 2008 for exploration and development. A Production Sharing Contract was signed in July 2011.

  • In 2012, the government of the Republic of Kenya awarded ERHC Block 11A in northwest Kenya.

  • In February 2014, ERHC announced the completion of a farm-out agreement for Kenya Block 11A with CEPSA Kenya Limited. CEPSA acquired a 55 percent stake in Block 11A and will operate the Block in exchange for certain considerations. ERHC retained a 35 percent interest in Block 11A.

  • In August 2014, ERHC announced the successful completion of a 2D seismic acquisition program of Kenya Block 11A. It helped to identify the Tarach-1 prospect as the drilling location for the first exploration well.

  • In April 2015, ERHC announced that the exploration team identified 13 drillable prospects and leads in the Tarach basin. Mean prospective resources of all prospects and leads totals 645 million barrels.

  • In October 2015 ERHC announced an agreement to transfer all rights to EEZ Block 11 to Kosmos Energy. Proceeds from the transfer will enable ERHC to meet its capital requirements for 2016 while also providing the opportunity for future financial benefit if exploration progresses through to production.