WNL White Nile

RNS Number:8814L
White Nile Limited
16 January 2008


         White Nile Ltd / Ticker: WNL / Index: AIM / Sector: Oil & Gas


16 January 2008

                 White Nile Ltd ('White Nile' or 'the Company')
                Production Sharing Agreement signed in Ethiopia


White Nile Ltd, the AIM listed oil and gas exploration company, has signed a
Production Sharing Agreement ("PSA") with the Government of Ethiopia for a
29,000 sq km block in the Southern Rift Basin in south-western Ethiopia. Under
the terms of the PSA, White Nile has received sole rights for the exploration,
development and production of petroleum in the contract area in return for
satisfying various development commitments.


The PSA follows a two year Joint Study Agreement ("JSA") with the Ethiopian
Government's Petroleum Operations Department of the Ministry of Mines over the
prospective East African rift system in the southwest of the country.
Geophysical and geological work, primarily in the Omo River area to the north of
Lake Turkana, has confirmed the presence of deep potential hydrocarbon bearing
sedimentary basins within the JSA area. The prognosis by the Company and its
advisors is that the contract area is sited at an intersection between a
south-eastern extension of the petroliferous Cretaceous and early Tertiary
basins of Southern Sudan, in particular the Muglad rift system and the younger
East African rift system, which is proving petroliferous in Uganda as underlined
by Tullow Oil Plc's recent progress.


Under the PSA, the Government of Ethiopia has granted the sole right to White
Nile to explore, develop and produce petroleum in the contract area. There is an
initial Exploration Period of four years from the date of execution, and a
Development Period and Production Period of 25 years from the date of adoption
of the development plan. During the initial Exploration Period, White Nile is
required to make a minimum expenditure of $6,000,000 for seismic operations and
a minimum expenditure of $8,000,000 for drilling operations. White Nile plans to
begin seismic operations in Q4 2008 prior to which it will conduct extensive
geological field work and preparation for the geophysical programme.


White Nile Chairman Phil Edmonds said, "Following the highly successful JSA with
the Petroleum Operations Department of the Ministry of Mines, I am very excited
that this PSA has been signed to develop the Southern Rift Basin area. We have
been encouraged by early work, especially with the identification of deep
basins, potentially containing sedimentary sections similar to that of the
petroliferous Muglad and Melut Basins of Southern Sudan and also those in
Uganda.


"The agreement in Ethiopia is part of White Nile's strategy of building a
regional oil company, which I believe we have the ability to achieve. The
geology seems to connect Uganda, Ethiopia and Southern Sudan so our land
positions are in ideal locations to take advantage of this situation."


                                  * * ENDS * *


For further information please visit www.whitenile-ltd.com or contact:

Phil Edmonds          White Nile Ltd                  Tel: 0845 108 6060
Jonathan Wright       Seymour Pierce Ltd              Tel: 020 7107 8000
Hugo de Salis         St Brides Media & Finance Ltd   Tel: 020 7242 4477




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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