afren plc names shahid ullaj as executive director

Afren Plc Names Shahid Ullah as Executive Director

07-03-2008

The Board of Afren Plc has appointed an experienced 12 person technical team of Geologists, Geophysicists, Reservoir Engineers and Petroleum Engineers. The team, led by Shahid Ullah, previously constituted Randall & Dewey’s international technical team and brings portfolio management and technical skills that will be highly complementary to Afren, in particular with a view to executing the pipeline of future development opportunities.

Recent achievements for the team in Africa include:

Technical partner with Vaalco on the Etame Marine discovery in Gabon;
Discovered and developed the Abana Field on OML 114 in Nigeria;
Found over 1 TCF gas at Cross River on OML 114 in Nigeria;
Early technical work to define the Okoro field opportunity in Nigeria;
Developed the plan for a heavy oil field in Madagascar utilizing steam injection, raised the necessary financing for the project and responsible for project execution; and
Produced an innovative development plan and economic model for Ivanhoe Energy for the Niger Agadem block.

The Board has announced that Shahid Ullah has been appointed as an Executive Director of Afren to head up the Company's technical operations. Ullah's career includes senior management positions at Western Atlas and Baker Hughes, where he was responsible for managing petroleum equities and assets and in particular brings extensive technical and commercial knowledge of the African petroleum industry.

"I am delighted to join the Board of Afren. The Company has demonstrated an impressive track record and has built a sizeable portfolio of assets in West Africa over a relatively short time period. I look forward to complementing this management team with unparalleled access in Africa, in not only continuing the commercialization of the existing asset base, including full production on the Okoro Setu Project, but also providing the additional technical base on the development of other potential assets such as the recently announced Ebok Field from the Majors in Nigeria," said Ullah.

The Board of Afren has also accepted the resignation of Evert Jan Sibinga Mulder as Chief Operating Officer. Sibinga Mulder had previously indicated that he wanted to return to Holland after many years overseas. His input and industry experience were significant in terms of structuring the Company's technical team and work processes and also in relation to the recent First Oil achievement.