Tullow makes 'excellent' start in Kenya, finds oil in first well

It seems as if Tullow Oil's exploration campaign in Kenya has got off to a pretty good start, with its first exploration well encountering more than 20 metres of net oil pay.

The Ngamia-1 well, located in the Turkana Country of Kenya Block 10BB, is Tullow's first prospect to be tested as part of the project in Kenya and Ehtiopia. The company says that "many" leads and prospects have been found similar to Ngamia and the "outlook for further success [following this testing] has been significantly improved".

The well was drilled to an intermediate depth of 1,041m and moveable oil with an API (an inverse measure of the density of oil compared with water) greater than 30 degrees was recovered to surface. The oil has similar properties to the light waxy crude discovered in Uganda, the oil and gas group said. Ngamia will be drilled to a total depth of 2,700m to explore for deeper potential.

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"This is an excellent start to our major exploration campaign in the East African rift basins of Kenya and Ethiopia. To make a good oil discovery in our first well is beyond our expectations and bodes well for the material programme ahead of us," said Tullow's Exploration Director Angus McCoss.

Tullow owns a 50% interest in licences in the Kenya and Ethiopia Rift Basins covering an area bigger than 100,000 square kilometres.

"We look forward to further success as seismic and drilling activities continue to gather pace," McCoss said.

Shares were up 4.41% at 1,538p by 15:07 in London.

BC