Tullow's new paipai 10a similar to SMB's 2a Tullow exploration 'spuds' new
oil well in northern Kenya
Kenya is also expected to tender for the exploration of
natural gas in Kilifi, near the coastal city of Mombasa
NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- Oil exploration firm Tullow has begun spudding of the Paipai-1 exploration well located in onshore Block 10A in northern Kenya as search for commercial oil intensifies in the east African nation.
A statement from Africa Oil issued in Nairobi on Monday said the well is planned to drill to a total depth of 4,112 meters and will test Cretaceous and Jurassic sandstone targets.
"The Paipai well will test Cretaceous and Jurassic targets in the Anza graben, whose geologic history is comparable and on trend with producing basins of Sudan.
"Paipai-1 will test a large structural trap in what is considered to be an oil-prone area of the Anza basin," Africa Oil CEO Keith Hill said in a statement.
The well is operated by Tullow Oil which hold a 50 percent working interest. Africa Oil holds a 30 percent working interest in the Block.
The statement said the Paipai-1 will be drilled using the Sakson PR-5 rig and is targeting gross best estimated prospective resources of 121 million barrels by the company’s independent resource evaluator.
Kenya’s energy ministry officials have remained optimistic about possible oil finds following the ongoing exploration by Tullow, which is also engaged in activities around the Mandera region in northern Kenya.
Exploration experts said the semi-arid regions of northern and north-eastern Kenya, have the curvy rocks, formed millions of years back, when the region was an ocean.
The creation of the deep sea blocks is meant to attract new investors into the country, especially along the Indian Ocean.
The Tertiary Basin, another potential oil zone, has eight potential oil blocks.
The region measures 100,000 square km, while the Anza Basin measures 80,000 square km.
Tullow said the Ngamia structure is the first prospect to be tested as part of a multi-well drilling campaign in Kenya and Ethiopia.
The Africa Oil and its partner Tullow which are continuing drilling operations at the Twiga South-1 well site located in Lokichar sub-basin onshore Block 13T said results of this well are expected before the end of October.
"Legacy wells have encountered significant oil and gas shows, but newly acquired seismic surveys have helped improve mapping and identify the Paipai prospect as a favorable and potentially high- impact exploration target," Hill said.
He said a discovery at Paipai will extend the producing plays of Sudan into Kenya and open a potentially significant and new petroleum province within Kenya where the company is already implementing an accelerated exploration program after the Ngamia-1 discovery in the Tertiary Rift Play earlier in the year.
"With plans in place for three drilling rigs to be operational before the end of the year, the company is entering an exciting period of activity with multiple high impact exploration targets expected to be drilled before the end of 2013," Hill said.
Africa Oil is a Canadian oil and gas company with assets in Kenya, Ethiopia and Mali as well as Puntland (Somalia) through its 45 percent equity interest in Horn Petroleum Corporation.
The East African Rift Basin system is one of the last of the great rift basins to be explored.
New discoveries have been announced on all sides of Africa Oil’s virtually unexplored land position including the major Albert Graben oil discovery in neighboring Uganda.
The east African nation has a huge mineral potential but its exploration efforts have only picked in the last five years with the awarding of commercial licences in prospecting for oil, gold, coal, geothermal and rare earths.
Kenya is also expected to tender for the exploration of natural gas in Kilifi, near the coastal city of Mombasa.
One of the contributors for slow exploration of minerals in Kenya has been lack of mapping of the resources.