TULLOW Oil saw its London-listed shares jump more than 20% to 596.5p yesterday after it reported successful drilling results from the Hyedua-2 appraisal well on the Jubilee field offshore Ghana and the Kingfisher-3 appraisal well in Uganda.
It said the success of these latest wells had substantially increased the proven area of both the Jubilee and Kingfisher fields and was likely to lead to material upgrades of current resource estimates.
At Hyedua-2, in an operated licence in which Tullow has a 49.95% stake, the company said it had encountered a gross reservoir interval of 394 feet containing about 180ft of high-quality oil-bearing sandstones.
It said that at Kingfisher-3 it encountered oil in three reservoirs with a total thickness of up to 131ft over a gross interval of about 360ft, and added that Kingfisher was now the largest light oil discovery in east Africa.
Heritage Oil, which is listed in the UK and Canada, is operator of Kingfisher with a 50% stake and Tullow has the remaining 50%.
Tullow chief executive Aidan Heavey said: “Encountering significant hydrocarbon columns outside the proven area of both the Jubilee and Kingfisher fields is an outstanding result.
“We are entering an exciting period for Tullow’s Ghanaian and Ugandan operations, with four potentially transformational wells to be drilled over the next four months.”