Tullow Oil plc (LON:TLW) has announced a new oil discovery in Kenya, with the Erut-1 well in onshore Block 13T finding oil at the northern limit of the South Lockichar basin.
Erut-1 was drilled to a depth of 1,318 metres and it cut a 25 metre interval at a depth of 700 metres, though Tullow says the overall oil column is considered to be between 100 to 125 metres.
The company highlights that the Erut-1 well was drilled some 10 kilometres to the north of the Etom-2 well, and it was designed to test a structural trap at the edge of the basin.
As such, Tullow highlights that the well successfully shows that oil has migrated this far north which in turn de-risks multiple further exploration prospects in the area.
"This is an exciting discovery from a bold exploration well that proves that oil has migrated to the northern limit of the South Lokichar basin,” said Angus McCoss, Tullow Oil exploration director.
“This extends the known hydrocarbon limits of the basin beyond the successful Etom discovery into the underexplored northern part of the basin where we have several undrilled prospects.”
Tullow will now drill a pair of appraisal wells (Amosing-6 and Ngamia-10) but after that it is planned for drilling operations to return to the northern portion of the basin for further exploration.
The company has a 50% stake in Block 13T and Block 10BB alongside partners Africa Oil Corp and Maersk, which both own 25%.