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 April 2008 The Company reports that the mobilization of a seismic crew to the Dharoor Valley block in northern Puntland is proceeding smoothly. Recording is still planned to start before the middle of May. Approximately 2600 km of high quality 2D vibroseis data will be acquired as part of the comprehensive exploration program planned for the Dharoor Valley. Preparations for drilling in the Nogal Valley block have also been proceeding well. Although plans to spud the first well in July were well advanced, it has been decided to delay the start of the drilling program. The recent upsurge in civil unrest in southern Somalia and piracy around Somalia's coast have given rise to significant logistical difficulties in shipping large amounts of heavy equipment and supplies to the drilling location. After close consultation with the Puntland Government, it has been decided that the prudent course of action is to delay the drilling program temporarily while local issues are resolved by relevant authorities. In a related matter, Africa Oil is pleased to announce that the President of the Transitional Federal Government, H.E. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, has been fully briefed on the company's activities. His Excellency has subsequently issued a broad endorsement of those activities and acknowledged the legitimacy of its concession agreements, promising full support for our work program. Having met all other obligations, the Company had initiated an accelerated drilling schedule at the Nogal Valley block well in advance of the January, 2010 expiry of the first exploration period. The aggressive timing of the program was to the benefit of the local communities in Puntland and Somalia. However, under current conditions, it is prudent to relax this operational schedule. The Company has a strong relationship with the Puntland government and will cooperate fully with them as they work to resolve the situation. The company will continue to monitor events and reinstate the drilling program as soon as practicable. In addition, the Company will be filing its Audited 2007 Year End Financial Statements on April 29, 2008. The financial statements will be available electronically on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com and on Africa Oil's website at www.africaoilcorp.com. March 2008 Mobilization of casing and camp construction equipment is underway in preparation for spudding the first of an initial two well program on the Nogal Block in Puntland, Somalia. The equipment is currently in Djibouti and is anticipated to arrive in Somalia within the next week. The first well is expected to spud in July, 2008. The Company has farmed into an 80% interest in the Nogal and Dharoor blocks. The concessions encompass two highly prospective hydrocarbon basins and cover an area of 81,000 square kilometres or more than 20 million acres. The two sedimentary basins were contiguous with the prolific Marib and Masila basins in Yemen during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Over 9 billion BOE have been discovered in Yemen but exploration has been limited to date in Somalia. Only 3 wells have been drilled in basinal settings in these concessions before operations ceased in the early 1990's. Those wells confirmed thick sedimentary sequences, encountered oil in Cretaceous sandstones and proved the presence of active petroleum systems in both basins. In the Nogal Basin, Africa Oil has acquired all of the more than 4,000 kilometres of good quality 2D data which was recorded in the late 1980's. This has enabled the Company to work up an inventory of drilling prospects from which the first two well locations will be selected. At the Dharoor Block, the Company has finalised a contract for shooting approximately 2,600 kilometres of 2D seismic. The seismic crew is expected to be on the ground in Puntland by the end of April, 2008. February 2008 The Company has entered into a contract for a drilling rig to begin drilling in our Puntland concessions during 2008. The contract effective date is February 19th, 2008 and covers the drilling of two wells with a two well option. It is a standard day rate contract and was negotiated at competitive rates. Drilling will begin before the commencement deadline date of August 1st, 2008. The contract was signed with Energi Tata Persada Pte Ltd (ETP), a Singaporean registered company. ETP is a wholly owned subsidiary of Catur Khita Persada, an Indonesian oil and gas service company. They own four land drilling rigs and perform extensive turn key drilling projects in Indonesia. ETP have employed Roger Boyco to manage the Puntland project. He has over 30 years experience managing land drilling projects around the world. The ETP rig No 3 is a brand new package currently being constructed in the Shengli fabrication plant in Dongying, China. Shengli currently have nine drilling units under construction for international drilling contractors. The ETP rig is scheduled for delivery in mid May, 2008 and will immediately mobilize to Jebel Ali, Dubai. The mobilization into Somalia will be via chartered vessel and the current plan is to spud the first well during July. The ETP No 3 is a 1,500 HP unit, equipped with the latest drilling technology, including a top drive and three 1,600 HP pumps. The camp facility will house up to 150 persons and will also be brand new. ETP will also provide the trucking and hoisting equipment as part of their contractual obligations. |
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