tullow 10bb drilling, page-11

Ngamia well spuds in Kenya

Bill Lehane 25 January 2012 16:02 GMT

Partners Tullow Oil and Africa Oil Corporation have spudded a well at a closely-watched onshore prospect in Kenya.

The Ngamia-1 well was spudded at Block 10BB on Tuesday. It will be drilled to a projected depth of 2700 meters to test the oil potential in Miocene age sandstones, with drilling and evaluation expected to take between two and three months.

Tullow Oil operates the licence on a 50% working interest, with Canada’s Africa Oil holding the other half.

The partners believe the prospect to be tested is similar to those drilled by Tullow in Uganda’s Lake Albert rift basin.

Africa Oil chief executive Keith Hill said Tullow has “had enormous success with the Lake Albert Rift Basin project where in excess of 1 billion barrels have been discovered, and this shares many geological similarities”.

The well is located in the Lokichar basin, where live oil was encountered by the Loperot-1 well in 1992 that recovered 29 degree API crude from Miocene sandstones, according to Africa Oil.

“Our Ngamia prospect could be a play opener for another great success in the region", he added.

It is the first of a multi-well drilling program at the block and adjacent prospects.

As Upstream reported in November, the high-profile onshore wildcat in Kenya is expected to kick off an ambitious wildcatting campaign in the rift plays of Kenya and Ethiopia in the coming years by the London-based independent.

Listed in London and Dublin, Tullow Oil is Africa's leading independent with more than 90 licences in 22 countries producing 58,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day net to Tullow in 2010. Tullow also has assets in Europe, south Asia and South America.

Africa Oil Corporation is a Toronto-listed explorer with assets in Kenya, Ethiopia and Mali as well as Somalia through its 51% equity interest in Horn Petroleum Corporation.

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http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article299771.ece