Tullow share price jumps after it finds oil at well in Kenya
Tullow Oil shares jumped today, after the oil explorer said it had found oil at a well in Northern Kenya, and saw good potential in other underexplored parts of the area.
Shares in Tullow, which drills for oil in West Africa, jumped as much as 7.7 per cent to 163.87p per share after Tullow said its Etom-2 well in Northern Kenya had found over 100 metres of net oil play in the best reservoirs in the basin so far. The stock closed up 5.13 per cent at 159.9p.
"Discovering this thick interval of high quality oil reservoirs further underpins our development options and resource base," Angus McCoss, Tullow exploration director, said.
McCoss added that the find suggests significant potential in this under-explored part of the block as it's the most northerly well Tullow has drilled in the South Lokichar basin.
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It provides some relief to Tullow which has suffered as oil prices, which recently fell to lows not seen since the height of the financial crisis, helped send its market value down around 70 per cent year-to-date.
Tullow will now move to Block 12A where it will starting drilling in the Kerio Valley Basin around the year end.
The company operates Blocks 13T and 10BB with 50 per cent stake in them, and Africa Oil Corporation owns the remaining 50 per cent.