21st Dec 2006 07:00
Tullow Oil PLC21 December 2006 Tullow Oil Plc - West African Business Update 21 December 2006 - Tullow Oil plc (Tullow) announces first oil from the OkumeComplex in Equatorial Guinea and the acquisition of a package of interests fromthe Gabonese Government. A detailed update on Tullow's business will be provided in our Trading Statementand Operational Update which will be released on 31 January 2007. FIRST OIL FROM THE OKUME COMPLEX (Tullow 14.25%) Crude oil production from the Okume Complex, offshore Equatorial Guinea,commenced on 14 December 2006 at an initial rate of 4,000 bopd from a singlewell. Production will steadily increase during 2007 as more wells are broughton stream and peak production of 60,000 bopd is expected to be achieved inmid-2008. The Okume Complex Project is a development of more than 40 wells utilising twotension leg platforms, three fixed satellite platforms and a central processingfacility. The oil from the development will be exported by tanker via aFloating Production Storage and Offloading vessel which is shared with theadjacent Ceiba Field in which Tullow also has a 14.25% interest. This commonuse of facilities provides significant operating cost benefits and the twoprojects combined will make a significant contribution to Tullow's productionover the coming years. ACQUISITION OF LICENCES IN GABON Tullow has recently acquired a package of assets from the Gabonese Governmentthrough a 50:50 Joint Venture with AIC-Petrofi Limited. The package comprisesinterests in three producing fields and back-in rights to a further nineExploration Licences. Two additional fields, presently held under explorationlicences, are awaiting development approval and are expected on stream over thenext 18 months. The acquisition adds approximately 350 boepd of current production net to Tullowfrom the Obangue (3.75%), Tsengui (3.75%)and Oba (5%) fields. As thedevelopment of these fields progresses and the two additional developments arebrought on stream, net working interest production is expected to rise toapproximately 1,000 boepd by early 2008. The exploration licences are located in areas of significant potential and whencombined with Tullow's existing Gabonese interests give the Group exposure toalmost 40% of Gabon's currently licensed acreage. Although the considerationcannot be stated for reasons of commercial confidentiality, it can be confirmedthat it represents less than 1% of Tullow's market capitalisation. Commenting today, Aidan Heavey, Chief Executive of Tullow said: "We are delighted to announce further progress from our business in West Africa. First oil from the Okume Complex project ahead of schedule builds on ourexisting production from the region and we look forward to further progress nextyear as the Okume Complex moves towards peak production. The acquisition of theGabonese licences represents a good opportunity to extend our existing businessin the country where the Group is focussed on building a long-term production,development and exploration business". For further information contact:Tullow Oil plc Citigate Dewe Rogerson Murray Consultants(+44 20 8996 1000) (+44 20 7638 9571) (+353 1 498 0300) Martin Jackson Joe MurrayTom HickeyChris Perry Notes to Editors Tullow is a leading independent oil & gas, exploration and production group,quoted on the London and Irish Stock Exchanges (symbol: TLW) and is aconstituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The Group has interests in approximately 90exploration and production licences across 17 countries and focuses on threecore areas: NW Europe, Africa and South Asia. Tullow's NW Europe interests are primarily focused on gas in the UK SouthernNorth Sea where it has significant interests in the Caister-Murdoch System andthe Thames/Hewett areas and operates over 60% of its production. In Africa, Tullow has exploration and production in Gabon, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo(Brazzaville) and Equatorial Guinea and a large gas field development andappraisal programme in Namibia. Tullow also has exploration programmes inMauritania, Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Madagascar, Angola andGhana. In South Asia, Tullow has exploration and production in Pakistan and Bangladeshand high impact exploration activities in India. For further information please refer to our website at www.tullowoil.com ENDS This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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