Sunday, April 24, 2005

A Day To Wait, As JMC Meets To Decide Awards

The Joint Ministerial Council of the Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Authority is meeting now to decide the winners of five blocks of the JDA's Joint Development Zone in the hugely oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, and shareholders of ERHC Energy (OTC symbol: ERHE) are understandably anxious to hear the results.

They are guaranteed at least 14 percent of the oil in nine blocks under rights they gained in 1999, which were ensured by treaty in 2003, and with $55 oil at today's opening, are valued in the billions.

In the meantime, the stock hit a 2005 high of $0.825 last Friday morning, closed at $0.815 Friday afternoon, and will likely open this morning at $0.83 or above after a steady, loping run from $0.38 last November. For that reason, while there is good news ahead, this morning is a time to be careful.

There will be sellers - some of whom pretend they are solid longs - taking advantage of the two-day meeting to take some profits and shore up their portfolios with lower-priced shares, and investors who are new to the stock may be alarmed by it. Believe me, these people are not smarter than you, and they don't know something you do not. But their posts will blithely say, "Hey, do you think the market makers know something we don't?" as they sell for profits and wait for you to sell so they can buy some more, also to sell.

Don't sell. Hang on.

The selling means nothing; these folks do this every time there is a runup, and a lot of the time they fail to get back in at an attractive price, and have to wait all the longer to make real money. Meanwhile, they will post alarming information to make that happen.

Be careful: ERHC Energy is a long-term investment that will indeed shoot up to new heights this week, but the action down on the ground will be choppy and even violent. The "new heights" will be eclipsed in a few months or less. You'll be awfully glad to be there then.

Those who have been in ERHC Energy for a couple of years have seen many, many false predictions, and I would think most of us would be surprised if they suddenly stopped now. We have also seen many, many newspaper and wire service articles with serious, panic-invoking mistakes. I made such a mistake myself here two weeks ago. We who have been here a while expect to see some more; like the false predictions, the false alarms won't stop for the JMC.

Even with a mild morning selloff, ERHE should enjoy at least a 5 percent gain by the end of the day, and old hands in this stock will tell you that after the profit-taking, the late-afternoon trading can be so volatile your heart will leap and careen from minute to minute.

We could hit $0.90 in the course of a few minutes and $0.85 a few minutes later, and $0.95 a few minutes after that.

I recommend that you read the post a couple down from this one headlined, "Breathe," and take that advice. This is not a day to sell. No matter how painful doing so may be, it is a day to wait with patience and with hope.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

ERHE Jumps 10% To $0.72

Anticipating billions of dollars of good news, ERHE investors drove the share price to $0.72 ask x $0.71 bid at 1:58pm EST Thursday on volume of 866,512 shares after ERHC Energy, Inc. (OTC BB symbol: ERHE) released a letter from the Nigeria-Sao Tome Joint Development Authority specifying a date certain for awards of five oil-laden blocks in the deep offshore waters of West Africa's Gulf of Guinea.

Here is the ERHC Energy press release from Business Wire:

ERHC Energy Inc. Receives Confirmation of JMC Meeting Dates
THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2005 12:48 PM
- BusinessWire



HOUSTON, Apr 21, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- ERHC Energy Inc. (ERHE) has received a letter from the Nigeria-Sao Tome & Principe Joint Development Authority ("JDA") confirming the dates of the next Joint Ministerial Council ("JMC") meeting .

Mr. H.A. Tukur, MFR, Executive Director (F&A) and Secretary of Council, stated in today's letter:

"Please be informed that the meeting of the Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) is scheduled for 25th and 26th April 2005, in Abuja, Nigeria. It is after the meeting that the results of the 2004 JDZ Licensing Round will be announced and successful bidders informed.

"ERHC will also be informed in respect of its validated options in the blocks."

On November 18, 2004, the JMC reconfirmed ERHC's rights to acquire Option Interests in the JDZ.

These Option Interests are:

Block 6 15% Signature Bonus Free
Block 5 15% Signature Bonus Payable
Block 3 20% Signature Bonus Free
Block 2 30% Signature Bonus Free
Block 4 25% Signature Bonus Free
Block 9 20% Signature Bonus Payable


"We thank the JDA for their commitment and efforts in taking the next step in a process that has garnered world-wide attention," said Mr. Ali Memon, President and CEO of ERHC Energy Inc.

About ERHC

ERHC (ERHE) was formed in 1986, as a Colorado corporation, and was engaged in a variety of businesses until 1996, when it began its current operations as an independent oil and gas company. Today, the company operates under the name ERHC Energy Inc. with the goal of maximizing its value through exploration and exploitation of oil and gas reserves and production in the Gulf of Guinea offshore central West Africa. ERHC's corporate offices are located in Houston, Texas.

SOURCE: ERHC Energy Inc.

ERHC, Houston
John Coleman, 713-626-4700


Copyright Business Wire 2005

Friday, April 15, 2005

Huge Fall Unnerves Investors

Huge Fall Unnerves Investors
ERHC Energy (OTC BB symbol: ERHE) unnerved investors today with an 18.38 percent fall to $0.55 ask x $0.550 bid. The fall was mirrored in the oil sector, where multinational oil giant ExxonMobil fell $1.99 and ChevronTexaco fell $1.37.

ERHE fell as investors lost faith in the Joint Development Authority's promises to produce a decision on awards shortly after a Joint Ministerial Council meeting on April 22. Today, in a post to reliable source oiljunior, the spokesman for the Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Aithority, Sam Dimka, backed away from his hard and fast promises of an April 22 meeting to offer "April 18-26" instead, along with a hint that the awards may go beyond April into May. He said the meeting might last "4-5 days", and if so, and the meeting began on April 26, the earliest day for awards would be May 2.

Needless to day, this latest flurry of ambivalence took its toll. At 3:20pm EST, the price stands at $0.525, down $0.155 or 22.79. percent for the day.

ERHC On The Move has not sold any of its shares, absorbing a $19,916 loss so far today.

Friday, April 08, 2005

ExxonMobil Chooses Not To Choose

One of the most-ridiculed suggestions ERHC On The Move ever made was that ultimately Exxon Mobil would not exercise its two 25- percent preferential options in the Nigeria-Sao Tome Joint Development Zone. Dozens of posters said that idea was just plain goofy, that it would never happen.

It happened today, at least according to the Dow Jones News Service.

Consistent with the long history of last-minute shocks to which traders have become accustomed, the news from Dow Jones News Service reporter Norval Scott, citing "a person close to the negotiating process," jolted the share price out of bed at the open, knocking it down by $0.059 cents to $0.6810.

By 10:38am EST, perhaps realizing that XOM's non-choice opens a greater possibility that ERHC Energy (OTC BB symbol: ERHE) will win operatorships in three of the blocks it seeks, the price was roaring back and stood at $0.715 on 1,232,000 shares of volume.

Here is the release from Norval Scott:



8 Apr 2005
12:58 GMT
DJ

ExxonMobil Turns Down More Sao Tomean Acreage - Source

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) won't be exercising its preferential rights in the Sao Tomean-Nigerian Joint Development Zone, a person close to the negotiating process told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.

ExxonMobil held rights on any two blocks from those on offer in the current JDZ current licensing round, but has chosen not to exercise these, the person said. ExxonMobil had a deadline of April 9 to decide whether to take up its rights or not.

The decision by ExxonMobil should allow the Joint Development Authority to move forward in concluding the drawn-out licensing process for the JDZ, which has been ongoing since April 2003. The licensing round closed on Dec. 15, 2004, with 26 bids from 23 companies for the five JDZ oil and gas blocks on offer being received.

ExxonMobil has already taken a 40% interest in Block 1, which is considered to have the best prospects in the JDZ and was awarded by the JDA in 2004.

-By Norval Scott, Dow Jones Newswires; +44-20-7842-9344; norval.scott@dowjones.com


It was yet another stinging humiliation for SwingingK, who blithely assured investors on Wednesday that the company had already exercised its options - the third time he'd done so since last September.

Sunday, April 03, 2005

$105 Oil? Goldman Sachs Prediction Lifts ERHE, Rattles Market

An astounding prediction by the respected Wall Street investment banking house Goldman Sachs rattled the stock markets and lifted ERHC Energy's share price Thursday with a prediction that the price of crude oil could go to $105 in a year.

ERHE gained $0.015 to $0.71 on 801,935 shares. The price slipped slightly after hours.

In a related story, Randolph Holhut of The American Reporter, the original Internet daily, writes on the impact of such prices in his latest piece, "R.I.P.: The Hydrocarbon Economy," at http://www.american-reporter.com.

Two of ERHE's MoU partners in the Gulf Of Guinea oil concessions being auctioned by the Nigeria-Sao Tome Joint Development Authority made a short list of recommended stocks in the Goldman Sachs release.

They were Devon Energy and Pioneer Natural Resources, which have teamed with ERHE to offer bids on Blocks 2 and 3 of the Joint Development Zone.

Those awards are expected shortly after April 9, the deadline set by the JDA for ExxonMobil to make its long-delayed choices of two blocks to exercise its 25 percent preferential options in this second licensing round, but could come earlier.

With Dow Jones' affirmation of the April 9 deadline yesterday and the strong suggestion of much higher oil prices in the near future, the stage seems set for steady price appreciation by ERHE, and a possible $0.03 to $0.06-cent gain today.

However global events including the grave illness of Pope John Paul II could dampen investor enthusiasm this last day of the week. The Pope suffered a heart attack late Thursday in Rome after a high fever due attributed to a urinary tract infection, but he remains at the Vatican and is being fed with a feeding tube.

Here is the Dow Jones story on the Goldman Sachs report:

DJ Goldman Sachs: Oil Markets In Early 'Super Spike' Period
Dow Jones News Services

03/31/2005

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Goldman Sachs believes the oil markets have entered the early stages of a "super spike" period, which analyst Arjun Murti defines as a band of oil prices that could be high enough to reduce energy consumption substantially and create a spare capacity cushion that could reduce energy prices return.

Murti increased his super spike range to $50 to $105 per barrel from $50 to $80 per barrel. He also increased his 2005 forecast for West Texas Intermediate oil to $50 per barrel from $41 and his 2006 estimate to $55 per barrel from $40.

Murti recommends adding to positions in the oil sector "at current prices, on a pullback, or even after rallies," and raised 2005 and 2006 earnings estimates across the board.

His top picks in the sector continue to be Exxon Mobil (XOM), Amerada Hess (AHC), Bill Barrett Corp. (BBG), Devon Energy (DVN), EnCana Corp. (ECA), Murphy Oil (MUR), Newfield Exploration (NFX), Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), Premcor (PCO), Questar Corp. (STR) and Suncor Energy (SU).

(END) Copyright Dow Jones Newswires