Mr. Keith Hill of Africa Oil reports

AFRICA OIL CORP.: DRILLING OPERATIONS UPDATE ON SHABEEL WELL IN PUNTLAND, SOMALIA

Africa Oil Corp. is updating the market on the drilling operations on the Shabeel well in Puntland, Somalia, which is being drilled by the company's 51-per-cent-owned subsidiary, Horn Petroleum Corp. Horn is the operator and holds a 60-per-cent working interest in the Dharoor and Nugaal Valley production sharing agreements, along with working interest partners Range Resources (20 per cent) and Red Emperor (20 per cent).

The Shabeel well is currently at a depth of 2,703 metres and has just completed the setting of the 9.625-inch casing. The well drilled through primarily tight limestones and shales of Lower Tertiary to Upper Cretaceous age and encountered a 355-metre section of Upper Cretaceous sands and shales of the Tisje/Jesomma formations at a depth of approximately 1,660 metres. The sands in this interval exhibited both oil and gas shows, and petrophysical analysis of downhole electrical logs indicates a potential pay zone of between 12 and 20 metres in the section. Attempts to sample formation fluids using a wire line formation tester were not successful and thus the zone will require cased-hole testing to confirm whether it is oil bearing. At a depth of 2,015 metres a thick section of tight limestones and shales was encountered extending to the present depth of 2,703 metres, which is believed to correspond to the Upper Cretaceous Gumburo formation.

The forward plan on the well will be to drill ahead to the originally planned depth of 3,800 metres to evaluate the primary and secondary reservoir targets in the Lower Cretaceous and Jurassic intervals equivalent to the main productive section seen in the analogous fields in Yemen. A testing program, including the zones of interest seen to date and any deeper potential pay zones identified, will be agreed with the partners at that time. Upon completion of this well the company plans to move the rig to the Shabeel North location, on which construction is nearing completion.

David Grellman, Horn's president and chief executive officer, stated: "We are encouraged by the results to date and pleased that we have confirmed the presence of an active petroleum system in the Dharoor Valley. We look forward to drilling ahead into the primary objectives of the well and hope to confirm the shallow prospective zones by testing in the near future."

We seek Safe Harbor.