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Joint Development Zone

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In 2001, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe signed a formal treaty for the joint development of petroleum and other resources in the overlapping area of their respective maritime boundary claims. The treaty established the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) and an administrative body, the Joint Development Authority, (JDA), to oversee the implementation of the treaty and underlying license areas. The JDZ lies approximately 180 km south of Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea, one of the most prolific hydrocarbon regions in the world. Intensive exploration efforts over the last 35 years in and around the Niger Delta Basin, in particular, have led to a succession of large discoveries, notably the Bonga, Agbami and Akpo discoveries in Nigeria and the Zafiro and Alba discoveries in Equatorial Guinea.

Addax Petroleum made a significant addition to its high quality asset base between 2005 and 2007 when it acquired substantial positions in four highly prospective exploration blocks in the Joint Development Zone (the JDZ).

JDZ area description

  • Covers an area of approximately 8.5 million acres (34,500 km2) with water depths ranging from approximately 1,500 m in the northern part of the JDZ to over 3,500 m at its south western sector
  • The first licensing round for the JDZ was announced in April 2003 from which the first Production Sharing Contract (PSC) was signed in February 2005 for Block 1
  • The second licensing round for the JDZ was announced in November 2004 which made an additional 5 blocks available

In the Joint Development Zone, Addax Petroleum's holdings together with its minimum work obligations are as follows:

Block Net Acres Working interest % Operator Partner’s Interest Carried Minimum Work Program to be funded ($ million)
Block 1 » 69,600 40.00%* Chevron 0.00 0.0
Block 2 » 24,500 14.30% Sinopec 7.33 6.1
Block 3 » 24,700 15.00% Anadarko 10.00 7.5
Block 4 » 81,100 38.30% Addax Petroleum 17.70 29.7
Total 199.900       43.3

*Subject to JDA approval