ERHC Energy Inc. signed a production-sharing contract with the government of the Republic of Kenya on Block 11A in northwestern Kenya.

The block is in the vicinity of Block 10BB in which significant oil discoveries have been announced recently.

Block 11A encompasses 11,950.06 sq km (4,613 sq miles). The block is on Kenya's border with South Sudan to the north, Block 11B and Lake Turkana to the east and near Kenya's border with Uganda to the west. The block is ERHC’s first exploration acreage in East Africa and further diversifies the company's portfolio of oil and gas assets, which also includes deepwater interests in the Gulf of Guinea and onshore Blocks in Chad.

East Africa has emerged in recent years as one of the most exciting, new oil provinces in the world with the discovery of over 1 billion barrels of recoverable oil in Uganda's Block 1, the Ngamia-1 oil discovery in Kenya, which is estimated to be bigger than the Ugandan discovery, and large gas discoveries, including the recent Zafarani find, offshore Tanzania.

“We are building on past successes and leveraging ERHC's unique advantages in Africa to dynamically grow our exploration acreages and build shareholder value,” said ERHC president and CEO Peter Ntephe. “Competition for exploration acreages in Kenya is currently high and we are delighted that ERHC has been awarded the rights to explore one of the highly prospective blocks.”

The proximity and in-trend relationship between the Lotikipi plain and the Abu Gabra Rift basins of southern Sudan suggest high oil and gas prospectivity. The southern Sudan basins are established petroleum provinces. Surface exposures of the sedimentary units with potential source and reservoir value, represented by the Cretaceous/Paleogene Lapur formation of the Turkana Grits, give an indication of the sediments that might be encountered beneath the Lotikipi plain.