Afren

London, 3 April 2007 - Afren plc ("Afren" or "the Company") and its partner Amni International Petroleum Development Company ("AMNI") announce approval of the Field Development Plan for the Okoro Setu Project.

The Boards of Afren and AMNI are delighted to announce that the Field Development Plan ("FDP") for the development of the Okoro Setu Project has been approved by the Department of Petroleum Resources in Nigeria. The approved FDP features:

Development drilling of up to 6 deviated or horizontal gravel packed oil production wells from a single field location and supported by a minimum facilities well head platform.

Optimisation of the drilling and completion sequence, commencing in Q3 2007.
The transportation of oil by pipeline to a leased Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel ("FPSO"), moored 1 km south of the field, for processing.
Total well fluids processing, producing stabilised crude for storage in the FPSO, with subsequent regular off-take by tanker. Associated gas production will be utilised as fuel for the vessel's power generation and as lift gas to assist well productivity.
Most major contracts and materials purchase orders are in place to support the overall target for first oil by early 2008 and the Company is in advanced stage negotiations on its preferred FPSO.

Osman Shahenshah, Chief Executive of Afren, commented:

"It is a real accomplishment to have achieved Field Development Plan approval within four months of appraisal drilling. Together with the recently secured US$200 million debt facility, Field Development Plan approval marks another important milestone in achieving our target of 15,000 to 20,000 bopd by early 2008."

Enquiries:

Afren plc
+44 (0) 20 7182 1800
Osman Shahenshah Chief Executive  
Evert Jan Mulder Chief Operating Officer  
Galib Virani  Investor Relations  

Jefferies International Limited
+44 (0) 20 7618 3500
Toby Hayward    
Jack Pryde    

Tristone Capital Limited
+44 (0) 20 7399 2480
Simon Ashby-Rudd    
Majid Shafiq    

Pelham Public Relations
+44 (0) 20 7743 6673
James Henderson    
Alisdair Haythornthwaite    

Background information

Afren (www.afren.com) was founded in December 2004 by a management team including Dr Rilwanu Lukman, (Chairman), Osman Shahenshah, (Chief Executive) and Bert Cooper (Advisor to the Board), with the vision to become the premier pan African independent Exploration and Production company. Since its listing on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, Afren has rapidly expanded its portfolio and the management team has delivered nine assets in the Joint Development Zone of Nigeria Sao Tome and Principe, Nigeria, Gabon, Angola and Congo Brazzaville.

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