Tullow optimistic after oil find offshore Ghana

Oil and gas giant Tullow has found oil and gas-condensate at its Wawa-1 well offshore Ghana, the first of three important remaining exploration wells to be drilled in the second half of 2012.

This will be welcomed news for the company's shareholders who were disappointed on Monday after the firm said that it had plugged and abandoned a well in Guyana due to safety concerns.

Wawa-1, located on the Deepwater Tano licence, encountered 20 metres of gas-condensate pay and 13 metres of oil pay in turbidite sands. The group said that the oil is of good quality, between 38 and 44 degrees API (API is the relative density of petroleum compared with water).

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Tullow, which owns 49.95% of the licence and is the operator, will now suspend the well for possible future use in appraisal and development operations.

Exploration Director Angus McCoss said: "It found light oil and gas condensate, trapped separately from TEN and demonstrates once again that liquid rich hydrocarbons are pervasive in this prospective licence. We look forward to the drilling of Okure and Sapele in the second half of 2012."

BC