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Tullow To Acquire 50% Interest In Six Licences In Kenya, Ethiopia - Update

(RTTNews) - Oil and gas exploration and production company Tullow Oil plc (TLW.L) Thursday said it would acquire 50% stake in six adjacent licences covering the East African Rift Basins of Kenya and Ethiopia from Canadian oil and gas company Africa Oil Corp. (AOI.V), with a view to increase its asset base in East Africa.

The UK - based company said it signed agreements with Africa Oil to gain a 50% interest in five licences; Blocks 10BB, 10A, 12A and 13T in Kenya and the South Omo Block in Ethiopia, covering an area of 97,000 square kilometer. According to Tullow, the acreage, which is located 500 kilometer to the east of Lake Albert has good evidence of a live oil system.

Under the terms of the deal, Tullow will reimburse pro-rata past costs in each of these blocks and will carry Africa Oil for future net expenditures up to US$23.75 million.

The oil and gas company said the East African Rift Basin acreage shares many geological attributes with its Lake Albert Rift Basin position in Uganda and it expects to drill the first well in these blocks next year.

The company, which has interests in over 85 exploration and production licences across 22 countries, focuses on four core areas: Africa, Europe, South Asia and South America.

Angus McCoss, Exploration Director said, "Rift Basins are a core play for Tullow and to date we have discovered and identified resources in excess of 2.5 billion barrels in the Lake Albert Rift Basin in Uganda. We look forward to working with our new partners and applying our valuable technical insights to this under-explored frontier region of East Africa."

On August 25, while reporting results for the first-half Tullow said that it plans to drill exploration and appraisal wells in C??te d'Ivoire, French Guiana, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Uganda over the next twelve months and raised its full-year production outlook to 57,000 - 58,000 boepd from its prior forecast of 56,000 - 57,000 boepd.

TLW.L is currently trading at 1,210.00 pence, down 24.00 pence or 1.94% on a volume of 930,250 shares on the London Stock Exchange.