By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 20 -- An oil discovery at Taitai in the Butiaba area of Uganda's Block 2 "proves the existence of a working petroleum system over 70 km from the previous wells in the Kaiso-Tonya region," said Tullow Oil PLC.
The Taitai discovery, Tullow continued, "further reinforces the potential of Lake Albert Rift basin as a major emerging petroleum province."
Taitai-1 cut 5 m of net gas pay and at least 8 m of net oil pay. A thick section of oil-stained basement was also encountered and provides upside potential at this location and elsewhere in the basin, the company said (see map, OGJ, Feb. 11, 2008, p. 36).
The well went to a TD of 1,006 m and was successfully logged. Downhole pressure testing and sampling confirmed the presence of movable 30° gravity oil and a potential oil column up to 80 m thick in sands above the basement play, Tullow said.
"The uppermost oil sand exhibited high permeability; however pressure sampling of underlying oil sands was inconclusive. This uncertainty provides upside beyond the 8 m net oil pay; consequently, the well is being sidetracked and the oil-bearing zones cored to collect further reservoir and fluid information for detailed analysis."
Taitai-1 well is the first of a nine-well exploration campaign in the Butiaba area. On completion of operations at Taitai-1, the rig will move 10 km northeast to drill the Lanya-1 prospect at the end of May. Tullow plans to assess the best candidates for testing on overall merit at the end of the drilling campaign.
