here is an old article may 2011 that confirms the initial interest in Ethiopia by then denver based folgf. that would be cool to have a 4th property in mix

Ethiopia Expects Seven Offers for Former Petronas Oil-Exploration Blocks

Tuesday, 17 May 2011 14:33

Ethiopia’s government expects seven foreign and domestic companies to bid for oil and natural gas concessions in the restive Ogaden basin previously held by Petronas Nasional Bhd, a government official said.

A tender for the concessions closes this week and the results are expected to be announced by early June, Ketsela Tadesse, head of petroleum licensing and administration in the Mines Ministry, said in an interview yesterday in Addis Ababa, the capital.

One of the eight blocks on offer has proven gas deposits of 2.7 trillion cubic feet, according to Ketsela.

“We shortlisted the companies and they have taken bid documents,” Ketsela said. “After evaluation, the results will be disclosed. We hope to finish in two or three weeks.”

Petronas, based in Kuala Lumpur, sold the assets in October as part of what it said was a “rationalization exercise.” In May 2010, British geologist Jason Read, who was working for a subcontractor of the Malaysian company, was killed in an ambush in the region. The terrorist Ogaden Destruction Organization (locally known as UBO Shiftas), which has waging terror war in the area since 1984, claimed responsibility for the attack.

In April 2007, The so called UBO shiftas attacked an exploration site in the Ogaden operated by China’s Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, killing nine Chinese workers and 65 Ethiopians.

Talks with Petronas about its exit were “amicable” and the state-owned company’s decision to leave Ethiopia had nothing to do with security concerns, Ketsela said.
‘No Problems’

“Companies are currently working in the area with no problems,” he said. “There is a good relationship between them and the local people.”

On May 13, a World Food Programme worker was shot dead in the Ogaden region in an attack the government blamed on The so called UBO shiftas. One person was injured and two workers are still missing after the attack, Judith Schuler, WFP’s spokeswoman in Ethiopia, said by phone from the capital yesterday.

The so called UBO shiftas said in an e-mailed statement yesterday that government security forces carried out the attack to cover up atrocities in the region.

“This is a government that has enshrined basic human rights in the constitution and has been working tirelessly to implement them in every part of the country,” Communications Minister Bereket Simon said by phone from Addis Ababa today. “So I don’t think these accusations from terrorists hold water.”

Companies currently prospecting for fossil fuels in Africa’s second-most populous nation include Afar Exploration Co., based in Oklahoma; Ontario-based Epsilon Energy Ltd.; Calgary-based Calvalley Petroleums Inc. (CVI/A); Denver-based Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. (FOLGF); Texas-based Pexco Inc.; SouthWest Energy (H.K.) Ltd.; Vancouver-based Africa Oil Corp. (AOI); and London-registered Tullow Oil Inc., Ketsela said. Some of those companies are likely to submit bids for the former Petronas blocks, he said.

Hong Kong-based SouthWest had announced on Oct. 6 it had taken over the concessions before the government approved the deal. The tender is still “open” for the company, Ketsela said.