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British Tullow exploration strikes oil and gas in northwest Kenya

 

Friday, 28 June 2019

NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- British oil and gas firm Tullow said on Tuesday that it discovered oil and gas in northwest Kenya with partners Africa Oil in Block 9.

In a statement, Tullow said its Twiga-2 appraisal well had found 62 meters of net oil pay north of the companies’ Twiga-1 well, which had previously encountered some 18 meters of net oil pay with limited reservoir quality.

"The well encountered up to 39 meters of net oil pay and 11 meters of net gas pay and appears to have identified a new fault block trap north of the main Ngamia accumulation," said the statement.

"The reservoirs were high quality with more than 200 meters of net reservoir sands with good permeability inferred from MDT sampling," Tullow’s Exploration Director Angus McCoss said in the statement.

McCoss said the well has been suspended for testing and the rig will continue to drill up to four additional appraisal wells in the Ngamia field area for an extended well test program.

The London-based firm also announced gas discovery in Block 9 onshore Kenya.

"The Sala-1 drilled a large 80 square kilometer anticlinal feature along the northern basin bounding fault in the Cretaceous Anza graben and encountered several sandstone intervals which had oil and gas shows," it said.

It said its evaluating an appraisal plan on the latest discovery is consultation with the Kenyan government.

"Plans being discussed include an up-dip location to confirm the areal extent of the gas zones tested where the full net sand interval can be intersected above the gas-water contact," Tullow said.

The British oil firm which begun drilling activities in Kenya four years ago, said there were oil shows while drilling and small amounts of oil were recovered during drilling and testing which indicates there may be potential for oil down-dip on the structure.

The East African nation has witnessed intensified exploratory activity since 2003, which has also led to the discoveries of oil and gas in Uganda and Tanzania.

There is also ongoing exploration in Ethiopia.

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.

Friday, 28 June 2019