New Shallow Water Seismic Program Complete

January 7 2010

Black Marlin Energy Limited ("BMEL"), the Dubai based oil and gas Exploration Company is pleased to announce the completion of over 350 kilometres of shallow water marine seismic data acquisition by its Upstream Petroleum Services Limited (UPSL) unit, for RAKGAS Tanzania Limited in the East Pande Block in Tanzania.


The seismic program, using UPSL's shallow water acquisition barge "Faraday" with a 480-800 cu inch sleeve gun array and a short offset shallow towed 24 bit SERCEL SEAL cable, was conducted in very shallow tidal waters and inlets immediately to the south west of the Songo Songo gas field. The program was the first towed streamer survey in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique to acquire data up creeks and inlets that penetrated the coastline. Data quality was excellent, imaging the entire prospective sedimentary sequence to and including the Jurassic. The cost of this technique is considerably lower than conventional transition zone operations which have been used in the past.

The UPSL seismic crew will be moving from Tanzania for Kenya where it will be acquiring a similar 350kms program for BMEL's East African Exploration Limited (EAX) unit in the L17/L18 coastal block in southern Kenya. Operations will start in mid January and should be complete by early February. Acquisition, processing and interpretation of this data along with a planned geological field trip and geochemical study that will be carried out in Q1 2010, will complete EAX's first exploration period commitment in L17/L18 and is targeted at shallow gas and oil prone structures along the coast close to the highly attractive market of Mombasa where there is both a refinery and dual fuel power station.

BMEL has an active programme of exploration and drilling in 2010-2011 in the four countries in which it is active: Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar and Seychelles. With the completion of the RAKGAS program and the confirmation of this innovative acquisition technique BMEL is ideally placed to acquire new seismic data for itself, its partners and clients along the entire East Coast of Africa.

On behalf of the Board
Rick Schmitt, President and CEO