Tullow hopeful of another Jubilee-size yield
Saturday November 07 2009
TULLOW Oil may be sitting on a second giant field offshore Ghana with reserves at the recent discovery thought to be similar to the 1.8 billion barrels contained in the Jubilee field nearby, the company said yesterday.
Speaking at a conference in South Africa, Tullow's vice president for Africa, Tim O'Hanlon, said Tweneboa had the potential to be nearly as big as the Jubilee field -- Tullow's first major discovery in the area.
Tullow holds a 34.7pc interest in Jubilee, while it owns 49.9pc of the Tweneboa prospect.
Jubilee, discovered in June 2007, is expected to begin producing oil in the final quarter of next year. Tullow holds a 34.7pc interest, while Kosmos Energy owns 23.49pc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp has 23.49pc.
"Tweneboa has potential to be nearly as big as Jubilee," Mr O'Hanlon said, adding that the company would return to drill at the field next month.
According to Tullow's fact book, issued earlier this year, Tweneboa holds potential reserves of 1.4 billion barrels, but this is now thought to be closer to 1.8 billion, or possibly more. In March, when the find was announced, it was thought to contain just half a billion barrels of oil.
Shares in the company rose strongly this week on the back of the Ghana news and on reports that it is close to securing a deal in Uganda, where it is looking to bring in a new partner to help build a refinery and pipeline to Kenya.
Meanwhile, Total SA and Chevron Corporation have both said they are not interested in the 23.49pc stake in Tullow's Jubilee field offshore Ghana, being sold by Kosmos Energy.
In September, it emerged that Exxon Mobil had agreed a deal, worth about $5bn (€3.37bn), but since then several other parties have expressed an interest. Any deal can be pre-empted by Tullow or one of its partners, including state-owned Ghanaian National Oil Company which is trying to entice interest from Chinese resource companies to fund a purchase of the stake. Tullow also has pre-emption rights over the stake but is thought unlikely to exercise them.
- Pat Boyle
Irish Independent
