25 January 2012, Sweetcrude, NAIROBI – UK’s Tullow Oil and Canadian co-venturer, Africa Oil Corporation, say they have spudded a well at an onshore block in Kenya, adding that this happened on Tuesday.
Spudded at Block 10BB, the Ngamia-1 well is expected to be drilled to about 2700-metre depth to test the oil potential.
They believe the prospect to be tested is similar to those drilled by Tullow in Uganda’s Lake Albert rift basin.
Tullow Oil operates the licence on a 50% working interest, with Canada’s Africa Oil holding the other half.
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.
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.
