Tullow finds oil in Kenyan well

Irish oil and gas giant Tullow Oil saw shares rise on Friday afternoon after letting slip at an investor meeting that its Ngamia-1 well in Kenya was making good progress.

After talking with certain investors in Nairobi, the company "inadvertently indicated" that the well was drilling into the primary target and that initial results showed that it had intersected further oil bearing sands.

Subsequently, the group was prompted to release a statement, clarifying that Ngamia-1 encountered oil and gas shows over a gross interval of 140 metres from a depth of 1,800-1,940 metres.

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"The reservoirs are similar to those previously encountered at a shallower depth. The well will continue to be drilled to a total depth of 2,700 metres and then logged and sampled," the company said.

Ngamia-1 is expected to take a further three weeks to complete.

Shares jumped following the afternoon announcement and by 16:13 in London, the stock was trading 1.61% higher at 1,385p.

BC