The Aje discovery lies 24 km from the coast in western Nigeria, on the border with Benin. It is situated 64 km from Lagos and close to the West Africa Gas Pipeline (12 km away). Water depth across the field ranges from 99 metres to over 1,500 metres.

The field was discovered by well Aje-1, drilled in 1996, and encountered oil and gas in resevoirs of Cretaceous age, which flowed at an aggregate rate of 60.2 MMSCFGD and 1,729 BCPD and 2,389 BOPD over three zones. An appraisal well, Aje-2, which was drilled in 1997, located approximately 1 km to the east of Aje-1 well, flowed 16.5 MMSCFGD and 450 BCPD from the shallower zone tested in Aje-1, as well as 3,866 BOPD from a deeper separate additional zone which had not been encountered in the Aje-1 well. Both these wells were drilled as deviated wells from a shallow water location using a jackup rig. A third well Aje-3, drilled in 2005 using a semi-submersible rig as a step out from the first two locations, confirmed the structural interpretation and resolved fluid distribution but penetrated rather poorer quality reservoir.

Aje is primarily a gas condensate discovery, but also contains a thin oil leg below the main Turonian gas reservoirs, and an oil leg in the deeper Cenomanian reservoir. The development is likely to be a subsea development tied back to an FPSO* to process gas, LPG**, condensate and oil with gas exported via a tie in to the WAGP***, due to be commissioned in February 2007, or through a direct pipeline to the Lagos gas infrastructure.

EER initially joined the Aje Partnership in August 2006 and has a 5.625% revenue interest. Partners include Syntroleum Nigeria Ltd, Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum (indigenous company, Operator), Challenger Minerals and Providence Resources Plc. EER has recently acquired Syntroleum Nigeria Ltd, hence increasing its overall revenue interest to 24.375%.

The forward plan is to drill the Aje-4 appraisal well in 2007 and progress rapidly to field development.

* Floating Production Storage and Offloading
** Liquified Petroleum Gas
*** West African Gas Pipeline