Tullow Oil has struck oil in Block 2 of the Butiaba region of Uganda, and the success of the well bodes well for neighbour Heritage Oil in an adjacent block.

Drilling the Kesamene 1 exploration well lead to the logging of 31 metres of net oil pay and six metres of net gas pay. Downhole equipment confirmed dry gas and 33 API oil with excellent reservoir quality.

“This well has proved up a significant discovery,” Tullow chief exec Aidan Heavey said in a statement.

The company said an appraisal well will have to test the overalll thickness of the reservoir’s “oil legs and gas cap”. A sidetrack is reportedly snaking throught the structure.

Meanwhile, oil company Heritage said Tullow’s success with the drill bit reduces the risk of finding nothing put water in its own Block 1. A Heritage statement said the Kesamene well’s structural trends could be traced to the Warthog, Giraffe and Buffalo prospects in its own Block 1, where drilling is about to begin.

Warthog in particular looked to be part of Kesamene, which was drilled 15 kilometres northwest of the Ngege 1 discovery and is the second success in the so-called Victoria Nile play fairway of the Lake Albert Rift Basin.

Tullow’s share price fell by a percent and Heritage’s by 17 percent on the news.

ws@scandoil.com

Tags: Heritage Oil Corporation, Tullow Oil