Politics and policy
An oil rig at the Ngamia 1 well in Turkana county. Tullow Oil failed to find commercial crude at Emong-1 well. Photo/FILE
By BD REPORTER
In Summary
- Tullow said that the Emong-1 exploration well in Block 13T “encountered poorly developed oil-bearing reservoir sands”.
- The well was drilled about four kilometres (2.5 miles) to the southeast of the Ngamia-1 discovery.
- The firm expressed optimism of more discoveries in the expansive Turkana basin.
Britain’s Tullow Oil Thursday said it had failed
to find viable crude deposits at its eighth test on Emong-1 well,
Turkana County.
The Emong-1 exploration well in Block 13T
“encountered poorly developed oil-bearing reservoir sands,” Tullow said
in a statement.
The well was drilled about four kilometres (2.5 miles) to the southeast of the Ngamia-1 discovery.
“The early exploration, appraisal and testing
activities onshore Kenya are giving us significant technical and
operational insight for further optimising and accelerating the
development of the basin,” said Tullow in a statement. However, the
company vowed to carry on with oil search operations in the area.
The firm expressed optimism of more discoveries in the expansive Turkana basin.
Kenya had no known commercial reserves of
petroleum until March 2012 when Tullow Oil discovered crude in Ngamia-1
well at Lokichar in Turkana County.
By last month, Tullow had drilled seven more wells
at Etuko-1, Twiga-1, Ekales-1, Paipai-1, Amosing-1, Agete-1 and Awoi-1.
Six of the wells had oil.
The firm, together with its partner Africa Oil,
has found enough oil in Kenya to make field development commercially
viable. The companies expect to start production and possible sales as
soon as 2016, marking the first oil exports from East Africa.
Hotbed of exploration
Tullow has since doubled its estimate of
discoveries in the Lokichar basin to 600 million barrels. Focus is now
turning on the development of infrastructure such as an evacuation
pipeline and a refinery.
Kenya has recently become a hotbed of exploration,
with neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda also striking commercially viable
quantities of hydrocarbons.
Smaller players such as Cove, Origin Oil,
Pancontinental and Lion Energy, who had dominated Kenya’s prospecting
scene for years, have been quietly exiting in recognition of the change
in the balance of power in favour of big players like France’s Total and
US majors Anadarko and Apache.
Tullow has operations at five on-shore blocks in
Kenya including 10A, 10BA, 10BB, 13T, 12A and 12B and off-shore block L8
where American exploration firm Apache Corporation is searching for
oil.
Analysts said Tullow’s exploration successes in
northern Kenya have raised the country’s profile as a viable frontier
market investment destination.
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