19 July 2012, Sweetcrude, HOUSTON – THE Houston, United States-based Environmental Remediation Holding Company (ERHC) says it has been awarded exclusive rights by the Chadian government to explore for oil and gas on three blocks in the country.
ERHC, owned 75 per cent at one time by the Nigerian business man, Emeka Offor, said in a statement that it earned production sharing contracts for the Chari-Ouest III, BDS 2008 and Manga blocks over a five-year period with the US independent having an option to renew the exploration agreement for an additional three years.
Peter Ntephe, ERHC chief executive office, said: “With the issuance of the (exploration license), ERHC can now commence its Chad exploration work programme in earnest.
“ERHC’s goal is to advance quickly towards the identification of leads and prospects and thereafter to drill as quickly as the circumstances permit.”
It said it will initially focus on the BDS 2008 and Chari Ouest III blocks in southern Chad. The company holds a 100% interest in BDS 2008 and another 100% interest in half of Chari-Ouest III, for total holdings of 5.2 million acres.
Both blocks are located on the north edge of the Doba-Doseo basin, where Esso and other operators have made discoveries of more than 1.29 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
“Significant work will of course have to be done to identify the prospects and drill them, but if our preliminary projections hold, we think that the combined mean potential may be up to 63 (million barrels of oil equivalent) and the upside exceeding 332 MMboe,” said ERHC technical advisor Martin Wensrich.
ERHC said it is currently accepting bids for seismic surveys and environmental assessments in the area.
