Huge oil well discovered in Amuru district
Dec 22, 2008
A HUGE oil well has been discovered in Murchison Falls National Park in Amuru district. Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil, the firms exploring for oil and gas in Albertine Graben, said the well “was potentially the largest in the Butiaba area to date.â€
By Ibrahim Kasita
A HUGE oil well has been discovered in Murchison Falls National Park in Amuru district. Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil, the firms exploring for oil and gas in Albertine Graben, said the well “was potentially the largest in the Butiaba area to date.â€
“The discovery of another material oil field at Buffalo in the highly-prospective Victoria Nile Delta play has maintained our 100% success record in the Lake Albert rift basin,†Aidan Heavey, the Tullow chief executive officer, said in a statement.
“With many prospects still to drill in the Butiaba region and across the basin, we are certain that commercial threshold for development would be exceeded.
“We have, therefore, assigned a dedicated team to make a commercial development plan for the overall basin,†he said.
Heavey said 2009 “promises to be a landmark year for Tullow, Heritage and the Government as we work together to realise the oil potential of the region.â€
Tullow said the oil and gas columns found had the potential to be larger and were bigger than a find previously announced Tullow and Heritage at Kingfisher, which the partners had then described as the biggest land discovery in sub-Saharan Africa.
The well was drilled some 500 metres from the crest of the structure to a depth of 637 metres and has been successfully logged.
“Down-hole pressure testing and sampling have confirmed the presence of dry gas and moveable oil that has been recovered to the surface.
“Reservoir quality in all play zones is excellent,†Heavey said.
“The gas and oil columns encountered are 48 metres and 75 metres respectively with the potential to be even larger.
“Further exploration and appraisal may uncover significant reserves upside in the undrilled areas of what could be a very substantial trap,†he added.
Buffalo-1 is the fifth successful test of the Victoria Nile delta within the Lake Albert rift basin and was drilled 16km north-east of the Warthog-1 and Kasamene-1 discoveries.
This latest result extends the play further north and de-risks several adjacent prospects, located in Blocks 1 and 2, which are scheduled for drilling in 2009.
“Work on this well has been suspended till a future date.
“The rig is also being moved 5km south of Giraffe prospect location where drilling is expected to commence late December,†Heavey said.
This well will also appraise some of the upside potential of the Buffalo discovery.
Tullow has interests in three licences in the Lake Albert Rift Basin.
It operates Block 2 with a 100% interest and has a 50% interest in Blocks 1 and 3A, operated by Heritage,which has a 50% stake.
Tullow and Heritage hold 50% equity each in the licence where the discovery was made, with Heritage as the operator.
Uganda is estimated to have over four million barrels of oil reserves across the western Rift Valley.
The Government is also planning to set up an oil refinery in Bunyoro.
A HUGE oil well has been discovered in Murchison Falls National Park in Amuru district. Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil, the firms exploring for oil and gas in Albertine Graben, said the well “was potentially the largest in the Butiaba area to date.â€
“The discovery of another material oil field at Buffalo in the highly-prospective Victoria Nile Delta play has maintained our 100% success record in the Lake Albert rift basin,†Aidan Heavey, the Tullow chief executive officer, said in a statement.
“With many prospects still to drill in the Butiaba region and across the basin, we are certain that commercial threshold for development would be exceeded.
“We have, therefore, assigned a dedicated team to make a commercial development plan for the overall basin,†he said.
Heavey said 2009 “promises to be a landmark year for Tullow, Heritage and the Government as we work together to realise the oil potential of the region.â€
Tullow said the oil and gas columns found had the potential to be larger and were bigger than a find previously announced Tullow and Heritage at Kingfisher, which the partners had then described as the biggest land discovery in sub-Saharan Africa.
The well was drilled some 500 metres from the crest of the structure to a depth of 637 metres and has been successfully logged.
“Down-hole pressure testing and sampling have confirmed the presence of dry gas and moveable oil that has been recovered to the surface.
“Reservoir quality in all play zones is excellent,†Heavey said.
“The gas and oil columns encountered are 48 metres and 75 metres respectively with the potential to be even larger.
“Further exploration and appraisal may uncover significant reserves upside in the undrilled areas of what could be a very substantial trap,†he added.
Buffalo-1 is the fifth successful test of the Victoria Nile delta within the Lake Albert rift basin and was drilled 16km north-east of the Warthog-1 and Kasamene-1 discoveries.
This latest result extends the play further north and de-risks several adjacent prospects, located in Blocks 1 and 2, which are scheduled for drilling in 2009.
“Work on this well has been suspended till a future date.
“The rig is also being moved 5km south of Giraffe prospect location where drilling is expected to commence late December,†Heavey said.
This well will also appraise some of the upside potential of the Buffalo discovery.
Tullow has interests in three licences in the Lake Albert Rift Basin.
It operates Block 2 with a 100% interest and has a 50% interest in Blocks 1 and 3A, operated by Heritage,which has a 50% stake.
Tullow and Heritage hold 50% equity each in the licence where the discovery was made, with Heritage as the operator.
Uganda is estimated to have over four million barrels of oil reserves across the western Rift Valley.
The Government is also planning to set up an oil refinery in Bunyoro.