20th Dec 2005 07:01
Tullow Oil PLC20 December 2005 News release Tullow Oil plc - Drilling Update 20th December 2005 - Tullow Oil plc (Tullow) announces updates on recentdrilling activities in Mauritania and Angola. A full update on the rest of Tullow's activities will be provided in our TradingStatement and Operational Update on 31 January 2006. MAURITANIA BLOCK 1 - Faucon-1 Exploration Well (Tullow 20%) Drilling on the Faucon-1 exploration well in Block 1 offshore Mauritania has nowbeen completed. The well reached a total depth of 4,170m and encountered atotal of 96.5m of potential reservoir of which the upper 14m is hydrocarbonbearing. The hydrocarbon fluid composition will not be finally determined untilthe downhole pressurised fluid samples recovered from the well have been fullyanalysed in an onshore laboratory in January 2006. The well will now be pluggedand abandoned. ANGOLA BLOCK 10 - Ngueve-1 and Henda-1 Exploration Wells (Tullow 15%) The two well exploration programme in Block 10 offshore Angola has now concludedwith both wells being plugged and abandoned. The Ngueve-1 well was spudded on 3 November 2005 and intersected all of theplanned objectives before reaching a total depth of 2,830m. Wireline logsindicated that all the porous zones encountered by the borehole are waterbearing and the well was plugged and abandoned on 30 November 2005. The second well, Henda-1, commenced on 5 December 2005 and was drilled to atotal depth of 1,539 metres. Although the main objective was intersected, noliquid hydrocarbons were encountered. The well was therefore plugged andabandoned on 15 December 2005. Block 10 is a largely unexplored block covering some 4,800 sq km. Although thewells did not encounter commercial hydrocarbons, they provided key geologicaland geophysical information that will be integrated with the 3D seismic data toallow further evaluation of the prospectivity of Block 10 and the region. Commenting today, Aidan Heavey, Chief Executive of Tullow said: "Although we believe the Faucon well is most unlikely to lead to a commercialdevelopment, it significantly upgrades the prospectivity of Tullow's regionalposition in Mauritania and Senegal, where further work is planned for 2006.Similarly, while we are disappointed with the result of the Ngueve and Hendawells, we remain committed to developing a long-term business in Angola. " If you have any questions on this announcement please contact: Tullow Oil plc Citigate Dewe Rogerson Murray Consultants(+44 20 8996 1000) (+44 207 638 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 90production and exploration licences in 16 countries and focuses on three coreareas: NW Europe, West 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. Tullow operates 60% of its production from these areasfollowing the recent start-up of production from its Horne and Wren fields andthe acquisition of the Schooner and Ketch assets. In Africa, Tullow has production and exploration in Gabon, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo(Brazzaville) and Equatorial Guinea. Tullow also has exploration programmes inMorocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda and Angola. In South Asia, Tullow has production and exploration interests in Pakistan andexploration activities in India and Bangladesh. 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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