Offshore Staff

LONDON -- Afren has entered into a farm-in agreement with Oriental Energy Resources for the development of the Ebok field, offshore southeast Nigeria.

Appraisal drilling is scheduled for 4Q 2008 with the objectives to acquire high quality oil samples, establish well deliverability, and acquire the reservoir data required for optimizing the development plan.

Pending appraisal wells, submission of a field development plan is anticipated in 2009. First commercial oil production is expected in 1Q 2010.

"We are delighted to have entered into an agreement with Oriental Energy, which was awarded the Ebok field by the ExxonMobil / Nigerian National Petroleum Corp." says Osman Shahenshah, chief executive of Afren.

"Ebok is a material proved undeveloped opportunity, with the potential to add significant reserves and production to Afren's portfolio. As we look beyond first oil, we are delighted to have established this unique collaboration with Oriental to further grow our portfolio from Ebok and the development of other potential assets from the majors in Nigeria."

04/01/2008