Afren

London, 7 December 2006 - Afren plc ("Afren" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that African Gas Development Corporation ("Afgas") and Sociedad Nacional de Gas, GE. ("Sonagas") yesterday announced the signature of an exclusive joint venture agreement ("JV") to monetize gas supplies from Nigeria, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea through infrastructure and facilities in Equatorial Guinea. Afren has the first right of refusal to supply upstream gas to the JV.

Exclusive Joint Venture between Sonagas and Afgas

Sonagas is the national gas company of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea which has the exclusive responsibility for the State's interest in all existing and future gas related projects in the country. Sonagas' existing gas projects include a 25% stake in the US$1.4 billion Equatorial Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas ("EGLNG") plant, which will begin deliveries of LNG to international markets from mid-2007. Train 1 has a capacity of 3.8 million tonnes and negotiations are currently underway regarding Train 2 and possible Trains 3 and 4.

Using Afren as the preferred upstream supplier, the Joint Venture intends to assemble the necessary regional gas supplies, primarily from Nigeria and Cameroon, to supplement existing Equatorial Guinea gas sources. Other Sonagas projects include participation in the Bioko methanol plant which currently produces approximately 3,000 tonnes per day and the Punta Europa Liquefied Petroleum Gas plant, which currently produces approximately 25,000 barrels per day.

The Afgas/Sonagas Joint Venture will be responsible for providing all required subsea pipelines, facilities and related infrastructure for the gas related projects. Afgas has entered into Heads of Agreement with each of Acergy (NASDAQ NM:ACGY; Oslo Stock exchange: ACY) (formerly Stolt Offshore) and AMEC (LSE:AMEC), for the design, procurement, building and operation of the infrastructure and facilities required in support of the Joint Venture?s various gas monetization projects.

Impact on Afren

Afren has the right of first refusal to supply gas to the Afgas/Sonagas JV, thereby securing an additional market for Gulf of Guinea gas reserves. The Gulf of Guinea has over 200 TCF of gas reserves, with more than 80% of those reserves situated in Nigeria. Afren is currently in negotiations on a number of upstream assets in Nigeria, which could potentially provide gas to the JV.

Background

Afgas is engaged in the development, construction, operation and ownership of integrated gas developments in Africa. Afgas is the largest shareholder in Gasol plc ("Gasol"), which is a London (AIM:GAS) listed downstream gas development company focusing on opportunities in Africa and the Gulf of Guinea in particular. Gasol purchased 20% of Afgas's subsidiary, African LNG Holdings ("African LNG"), earlier this year to integrate and build on the group's gas and LNG strategy in West and Central Africa, of which the JV with Sonagas is a critical step.

Afgas was founded by Dr Rilwanu Lukman and Mr Ethelbert Cooper, both founders of Afren. Afren has a 6.5% equity interest in Gasol and has a strategic relationship governing the supply of gas to Afgas-Gasol.

Brian O'Cathain, Chief Executive of Afren commented:
"Our strategic relationship with Afgas-Gasol, as the preferred upstream gas supplier, presents an additional growth leg to Afren. Gas exports to Equatorial Guinea represent a new route to monetise stranded and associated gas reserves in the Gulf of Guinea, and also assist with the reduction of gas flaring in the region.

This relationship allows Afren to capitalise on the anticipated growth in global and regional LNG demand, without diluting our upstream focused strategy."

Enquiries:

Afren plc

+44 (0) 20 7182 1800

Brian O'Cathain
boc@afren.com 

Osman Shahenshah
os@afren.com  

Pelham Public Relations

+44 (0) 20 7743 6673
James Henderson
james.henderson@pelhampr.com 

Alisdair Haythornthwaite
alisdair.haythornthwaite@pelhampr.com  

Background Information

Afren

Afren (www.afren.com) was founded in December 2004 by a management team including Dr Rilwanu Lukman with the vision to become the leading pan African independent Exploration and Production company. Since the Initial Public Offering in March 2005, Afren has rapidly expanded its African portfolio across five countries; Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Gabon, Congo and Angola. The Group is expecting to produce 15 to 20,000 barrels per day by 2008 from its current portfolio.

Afren will continue to add to its diversified portfolio of near term developments and high impact exploration licences with the overall objective of creating substantial shareholder value.

Acergy

Acergy is a company engaged in seabed?to-surface pipeline gathering and transportation, engineering, procurement, construction and installation services for the offshore oil and gas industry. Acergy has a market capitalization of approximately US$3.8 billion and 7000 employees worldwide.

Amec

AMEC is a project management and engineering services company that designs, delivers and supports infrastructure assets for customers in the oil and gas industry. AMEC has a market capitalization of US$ 2.3 billion and 20,000 employees worldwide.