White Nile agreed terms with the Ministry of Mines of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for a Joint Study Agreement covering the area of southern Ethiopia known as the ‘Southern Rift Basins’. The approximate 70,000 sq km area is adjacent to Petronas’ Gambela Block in the north and borders Southern Sudan and Kenya to the south.

The Agreement signed in July 2005 was for a two year period which White Nile, in collaboration with the Petroleum Operations Department of the Ministry of Mines, will conduct geological and geophysical studies aimed at evaluating the prospective nature of the area for oil.  At the conclusion of the Agreement period, or at any time before that, the terms allow the Company to enter exclusive negotiations with the Ministry of Mines for an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement.

Exploration in the area is based on the geological concept that the petroliferous Cretaceous and Early Tertiary basins of Southern Sudan extend south-eastwards beneath the younger and less prospective East African rifts.

White Nile has completed the first half of its initial geophysical programme of magneto-telluric and gravity surveys in the ‘Southern Rift Basins’. Preliminary interpretation of data already gathered is now underway, which once completed should enable us to understand the future prospectively of the region.

Joint Operation Area Location Map