By Guy Collins and Ben Farey
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Heritage Oil Plc reported a “world-class” oil discovery in Uganda with Tullow Oil Plc, which it said has “multibillion barrel potential.”
The Giraffe-1 discovery has a gross oil-bearing interval of 89 meters (292 feet), with 38 meters of net oil pay, it said in a statement today.
The Buffalo-Giraffe structure may be “substantially more extensive than currently outlined,” Heritage Chief Executive Officer Tony Buckingham said in the statement.
Heritage Oil jumped as much as 13 percent and traded 12.25 pence higher at 229.5 pence as of 11:29 a.m. in London. Tullow fell 4.1 percent to 678 pence.
The complex may extend into the Buffalo East prospect creating a structure of as many as 90 square kilometers, Heritage said. Drilling will continue at Block 1 this year.
Heritage is the operator of Block 1 and Block 3A in Uganda with a 50 percent equity interest in the licenses. Tullow Oil has the remaining 50 percent interest.
Heritage may sell some non-core producing assets to fast- track oil production, Chief Financial Officer Paul Atherton said in a phone interview today.
“We are being approached by financiers interested in financing our development in Uganda,” he said, declining to be more specific. Heritage had $113 million of cash in the bank as of the end of September, he said.
An 800-mile pipeline to either Mombassa in Kenya or Dar-es- Salaam in Tanzania will be needed, Atherton said. First oil production in Uganda is achievable by 2011, he added.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Farey in London at bfarey@bloomberg.net
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment