Heritage Jumps After Record Test Results From Uganda Well

By Nicholas Comfort

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Heritage Oil Ltd., a U.K.-based oil and gas explorer, jumped in London trading after saying record test results from a Ugandan well may pave the way for reserve estimates to be upgraded.

Heritage surged as much as 14.75 pence, or 6.9 percent, to 229.75 pence, and traded at 220 pence as of 8:08 a.m. local time. Tullow Oil Plc, a 50 percent partner at the Kingfisher-2 well, rose as much as 1.2 percent and was last at 751 pence.

Test results from three reservoirs produced a combined 14,364 barrels of oil a day, Heritage said in a statement distributed by the Regulatory News Service. Heritage's reserves at the site were previously estimated at 118 million barrels, according to Jersey, Channel Islands-based company

Heritage surged 13 percent at the beginning of the week after the Daily Telegraph said wells in the Albert Basin near the Congo border would show ``significant'' results after years of conflict prevented substantial exploration.

The company will now move its local drilling rig about 3 kilometers south along the lake to the Kingfisher-3 appraisal well.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Comfort in Frankfurt at ncomfort1@bloomberg.net