Tullow Oil PLC has tested sweet, waxy 37° gravity crude from three good quality reservoir sand zones in the Auwerwer formation at the Twiga South-1 oil discovery on Block 13T in northwestern Kenya.
Combined rate from the three zones is 2,812 b/d of oil, but the rate would have been about 5,200 b/d if optimized equipment had been available, said 50-50 partner Africa Oil Corp., Vancouver, BC. The firms have called Twiga South Kenya’s first potentially commercial oil discovery (OGJ Online, Feb. 13, 2013).
At least four zones are to be tested at the companies’ other discovery, Ngamia-1A, where a test program is to be conducted during March through May.
In Uganda, Tullow Oil reported that the Total SA-operated Ondyek-1 exploratory well, on the EA-1A block north of Lake Albert did not encounter hydrocarbons and has been plugged. Total depth is 1,462 m. Ondyek-1, 16 km northwest of the Nigiri-1 oil discovery, was designed to test the boundary limits of the EA-1A block.
Further evaluation is being carried out on the Lyec-1 discovery, and partners are reevaluating the remaining exploration potential of the area in light of recent well results, Tullow Oil said.
In western Ethiopia, Africa Oil formally executed a production sharing agreement that covers the 42,519 sq km Rift Basin Area, which the company previously held under a joint study agreement and referred to as the Rift Valley Block.
The Rift Basin Area lies east and north of Africa Oil’s South Omo block and includes the extension of the Tertiary-age East Africa Rift Trend in Ethiopia. The new license is on trend with highly prospective blocks in the Tertiary rift valley including the South Omo block and Kenyan blocks 10BA, 10BB, 13T, and 12A.
During the joint study period, Africa Oil flew a high-resolution airborne gravity and magnetic survey over the block. The company also ground-truthed natural oil slicks imaged by satellite that indicate the presence of an active petroleum system in parts of the block.
Africa Oil in 2013 plans to complete a full tensor gravity gradiometry survey and an exhaustive environmental-social impact assessment on the block.
