Tullow Oil said yesterday it had made one of the largest recent onshore oil discoveries in Africa with the Giraffe-1 well in Uganda, which had proved to be linked to the earlier Buffalo-1 find.
The company, partnered 50/50 by operator Heritage Oil in the Uganda block-1 licence, said the combined discovery was the largest in the country’s Lake Albert Rift Basin to date, with the potential for a single continuous oil column of 460 feet. Chief executive Aidan Heavey said: “Combined with our other finds in the region, we have now clearly exceeded the thresholds for basin development.
“Options for commercialisation and first oil production are currently being fast-tracked.”
Heritage said Buffalo-Giraffe reserves could total 400million-plus barrels, and further drilling could prove up more oil in place.