ERHC Energy to invest $100m to develop Sao Tome oil block

SAO TOME (Reuters) – Houston-based ERHC Energy Inc will invest around $100 million on exploration and development of one of its blocks offshore Sao Tome and Principe, the company's president said on Thursday.

ERHC signed a 28-year production sharing agreement with the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) on Wednesday for block 11, which lies in the central African island nation's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

"The company will spend about $100 million on seismic studies and drilling on the block," Peter Ntephe said.

ERHC also has a 100 percent working interest in block 4, also located in the EEZ.

Sao Tome, a tiny former Portuguese colony in Africa's Gulf of Guinea, is surrounded by oil-rich neighbours but has failed to find oil after several years of prospecting.

Other companies operating in the country include Equator Exploration Ltd on blocks 5 and 12, Sinoangol – a joint venture between China's Sinopec and Angolan state oil company Sonangol – on block 2, and Nigeria's Oranto Petroleum on block 3.

Fifteen blocks have yet to be awarded.

Sao Tome's government in February shortlisted four companies, including Portugal's Galp Energia, to bid on two oil blocks in the EEZ, according to a statement released by state oil company ANP.