Agriterra Ld Regulatory News (AGTA)

21 Feb 2007 15:21

White Nile Limited21 February 2007 White Nile Ltd / Ticker: WNL / Index: AIM / Sector: Oil & Gas 21st February 2007 White Nile Ltd ('White Nile' or 'the Company') Update on activities White Nile Ltd, the AIM listed oil and gas exploration company, is pleased toannounce an update on its activities with regard to the Block Ba concession areain Southern Sudan. The contracted drill rig, having been imported from Europe, has now arrived inAfrica and is being transported to the Block Ba concession area. The Company,following extensive seismic work on the block, has identified numerous drilltargets and has prioritised four where it believes the productive Muglad Basinextends into the concession area, including one large structure of over 50 sqkm. The spudding of the first exploration well is targeted for early in thesecond quarter of 2007. The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ('ESIA') study to determine theenvironmental, social, technical and economic aspects of developing the oilpotential of the concession area, including the construction of access roads,accommodation camps and eventually an oil refinery, processing plant andpipeline, is in the process of being finalised. ESF Consultants, an independentenvironmental management consultancy, is leading the ESIA. The scoping phase of the ESIA has included extensive public consultation toensure that stakeholders' contributions are taken into account within allstudies and developments. Response from all the local communities has beenpositive. They are supportive of the development of oil within the Block Baconcession and they have an understanding that through the equity holding inWhite Nile by the state owned oil company of the Government of Southern Sudan,Nile Petroleum Corporation ('Nile Pet'), the people of Southern Sudan will bemajor beneficiaries in the development of Block Ba. With regard to the claim made by French oil company, Total E&P Soudan SA("Total"), regarding Block Ba, White Nile would like to take this opportunity ofupdating the market on the current situation, following recent press comment andspeculation. Shareholders should already be aware that in mid 2005 Total made apre-action disclosure application to the Court in London concerning a requestfor disclosure of documentation with regard to the title rights over Block Ba.White Nile and the Government of Southern Sudan have consistently maintainedthat such an issue is not a matter for which the English Courts are anappropriate venue. However, following a Court of Appeal judgment, which has not addressed the issueof justiciability, White Nile is now required to disclose to Total tencategories of documents referred to in the Company's AIM admission document of19 May 2005. Notwithstanding the Court of Appeal decision, both White Nile andthe Government of Southern Sudan maintain that the question of the rights overthe Block Ba concession area is a matter which should not be decided by theCourts in England. It should also be noted that the Court of Appeal's decisionrelates only to the pre-action disclosure application and no substantiveproceedings have yet been instituted by Total. As shareholders will be also aware, in the May 2005 transaction the Governmentof Southern Sudan, through its state owned petroleum company Nile Pet,transferred a 60% interest in Block Ba to White Nile in return for a 50% equitystake in the Company. The remaining 40% interest in the block was retained byNile Pet. Having finalised the interpretation of the extensive seismic data over theextension of the Muglad Basin carried out with the full support of theGovernment of Southern Sudan and the local communities, the Board looks forwardto commencing drilling on Block Ba and assisting in expediting the developmentof the oil industry in Southern Sudan. * * E N D S * * 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