Agriterra Ld Regulatory News (AGTA)

16 Jan 2008 10:22

White Nile Limited16 January 2008 White Nile Ltd / Ticker: WNL / Index: AIM / Sector: Oil & Gas 16 January 2008 White Nile Ltd ('White Nile' or 'the Company') Production Sharing Agreement signed in Ethiopia White Nile Ltd, the AIM listed oil and gas exploration company, has signed aProduction Sharing Agreement ("PSA") with the Government of Ethiopia for a29,000 sq km block in the Southern Rift Basin in south-western Ethiopia. Underthe terms of the PSA, White Nile has received sole rights for the exploration,development and production of petroleum in the contract area in return forsatisfying various development commitments. The PSA follows a two year Joint Study Agreement ("JSA") with the EthiopianGovernment's Petroleum Operations Department of the Ministry of Mines over theprospective East African rift system in the southwest of the country.Geophysical and geological work, primarily in the Omo River area to the north ofLake Turkana, has confirmed the presence of deep potential hydrocarbon bearingsedimentary basins within the JSA area. The prognosis by the Company and itsadvisors is that the contract area is sited at an intersection between asouth-eastern extension of the petroliferous Cretaceous and early Tertiarybasins of Southern Sudan, in particular the Muglad rift system and the youngerEast African rift system, which is proving petroliferous in Uganda as underlinedby Tullow Oil Plc's recent progress. Under the PSA, the Government of Ethiopia has granted the sole right to WhiteNile to explore, develop and produce petroleum in the contract area. There is aninitial Exploration Period of four years from the date of execution, and aDevelopment Period and Production Period of 25 years from the date of adoptionof the development plan. During the initial Exploration Period, White Nile isrequired to make a minimum expenditure of $6,000,000 for seismic operations anda minimum expenditure of $8,000,000 for drilling operations. White Nile plans tobegin seismic operations in Q4 2008 prior to which it will conduct extensivegeological field work and preparation for the geophysical programme. White Nile Chairman Phil Edmonds said, "Following the highly successful JSA withthe Petroleum Operations Department of the Ministry of Mines, I am very excitedthat this PSA has been signed to develop the Southern Rift Basin area. We havebeen encouraged by early work, especially with the identification of deepbasins, potentially containing sedimentary sections similar to that of thepetroliferous Muglad and Melut Basins of Southern Sudan and also those inUganda. "The agreement in Ethiopia is part of White Nile's strategy of building aregional oil company, which I believe we have the ability to achieve. Thegeology seems to connect Uganda, Ethiopia and Southern Sudan so our landpositions are in ideal locations to take advantage of this situation." * * ENDS * * For further information please visit www.whitenile-ltd.com or contact: Phil Edmonds White Nile Ltd Tel: 0845 108 6060Jonathan Wright Seymour Pierce Ltd Tel: 020 7107 8000Hugo de Salis St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: 020 7242 4477 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange