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Tullow Oil ended its 2012 exploration activities in western Uganda on a dour note, hitting three dry wildcat oil wells in December. The firm, however, encountered hydrocarbon in a fourth well, Lyec-1, according to a statement released on Friday.
Tullow said the wells were drilled in December to help delineate the ultimate basin potential ahead of potential relinquishment. The company says Lyec-1 well, at the northern end of the Jobi east oil well, is currently under evaluation and remapping. All the wells were drilled in Block One in the Albertine graben, where Total is the main operator.
The ‘wildcat wells’, drilled outside the vicinity of a known oil or gas field, are not expected to significantly change the country’s oil potential outlook, which has in the past recorded a 90% success rate. Aidan Heavey, Tullow Chief Executive Officer, however, described the year 2012 as a success.
“Tullow accomplished much in 2012. We have had significant exploration success in establishing Kenya as a new hydrocarbon province,” he said in a statement.
He singled out Ngamia-1 and Twiga South -1 oil discoveries in Kenya as a key success, placing the East African country as a new ‘oil frontier’. “These discoveries are, alongside successful exploration in Uganda and recent major offshore gas discoveries by industry peers, establishing East Africa as an exciting new energy region,” the statement notes.
The observer
