Exploration company Tullow Oil has discovered oil and gas at the Buffalo-1 exploration well in Uganda. Tullow says it has encountered 15 metres of net gas pay and over 28 metres of net oil pay.
Although at an early stage of evaluation, Tullow says this discovery is potentially the largest in the Butiaba area to date. Independent analysts have suggested the region could hold up to one billion barrels of oil.
Buffalo-1 is the fifth successful test of the Victoria Nile delta within the Lake Albert Rift Basin. The well has now been suspended as a future producer and Tullow's drilling rig is being moved 5km south to the location of the Giraffe prospect. Drilling will start there in late December.
'The discovery of another material oil field at Buffalo in the highly prospective Victoria Nike Delta play has maintained our 100% success record in the Lake Albert Rift Basin,' commented Tullow's CEO Aidan Heavey.
'With many prospects still to drill in the Butiaba region and across the basin, we are now certain that the commercial threshold for development should be exceeded and have assigned a dedicated team to deliver a commercial development plan for the overall basin,' he added.
Tullow shares jumped over 8% in London trade to stand at 620p sterling this evening.
