Tullow makes another oil discovery - Ekales-1 Oil Discovery in Kenya

Tullow Oil plc has announce that the Ekales-1 well, located in Block 13T in Northern Kenya, has made a new oil discovery. Results of drilling, wireline logs and samples of reservoir fluid indicate a potential net oil pay in the Auwerwer and Upper Lokone sandstone reservoirs of between 60 and 100 metres. Future flow testing will be carried out to confirm productivity from these zones
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Ekales-1 is located in between Ngamia-1 and Twiga South-1 --where oil was also discovered-- and the oil explorer says that “reservoir properties at this location appear similar to those previously encountered.”

Tullow also disclosed that it had started drilling at the Agete-1 well mid this month and it expected the third rig to be operation in fourth quarter of 2013.

“This success at the Ekales-1 wildcat is further evidence of the exceptional oil potential of our East African Rift Basin acreage,” said Angus McCoss, the exploration director at Tullow Oil.

“Having opened the first basin with the Ngamia-1 well last year, we are now increasing the pace of exploration in Kenya aiming for 12 wells over the next 12 months.”

The firm said it would undertake further testing of the area to ascertain productivity.

Tullow, in July, also found 40 metres of oil reserves in Etuko-1 which are estimated to have combined resource of 300 million barrels (mmbo).

Tests on Twiga-1 and Ngamia-1 have confirmed the two wells alone have a potential of 250 mmbo, Tullow said.

The discovery comes a few weeks after Africa Oil, Tullow’s prospecting partner, raised fivefold the estimated deposits in the Lokichar basin to 368 million barrels of oil.

“Based on the drilling and testing programme over the past year we have confirmed the South Lokichar Basin contains gross contingent resources of 368 million barrels of oil, an increase of 557 per cent,” said Africa Oil chief executive Keith Hill, earlier this month.