Tullow finds oil-bearing sands in Ghana, Uganda

Listed exploration group Tullow Oil,which has major projects in Ghana and Uganda, said this morning that it has found oil-bearing…

Listed exploration group Tullow Oil,which has major projects in Ghana and Uganda, said this morning that it has found oil-bearing sands at its Tweneboa-1 exploration well offshore Ghana and at the Karuka-2 exploration well on the Vundu prospect in Block 2 Uganda.

The Tweneboa-1 well has been deepened to 3,938 metres and encountered four metres of highly-pressured oil bearing sands as well as an over-pressured zone at total depth.

Separately, the Karuka-2 exploration well on the Vundu prospect in Block 2 Uganda has been drilled and logged. The well reached a total depth of 897 metres and encountered limited thin-bedded oil bearing sands from 764 metres to 772 metres, Tullow said.

The Karuka-2 well is being suspended and the rig will then move to drill the amplitude supported Nsoga prospect in the Victoria Nile Delta play which is expected to spud in early April.

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“Tweneboa is a significant light hydrocarbon discovery which has extended the Jubilee play westwards and has identified oil in a deeper sand pointing to scope for further play development. We look forward to exploring these multiple targets offshore Ghana and pursuing these plays across the rest of our extensive Equatorial Atlantic acreage position," said exploration director Angus McCoss.

"The Karuka-2 well has confirmed our existing understanding of the Escarpment play. For the remainder of 2009 our Butiaba programme will focus on the prolific Victoria Nile Delta play and look to replicate and extend the successful reservoir cascades encountered during our 2008 drilling programme.”

Tullow, which recently announced a fourfold increase in earnings for fiscal 2008, was today raised to 'buy' at Citigroup.

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor is a former Irish Times business journalist