Tullow\'s Success Raises Afren\'s Hopes

Wednesday September 30, 2009
By Ou Reporter

Oil and gas company Afren PLC says the suc-
cess of companies like Tullow Oil Plc near its own assets in West Africa raises the prospect of it making major finds there.

Chief Executive Osman Shahenshah told Dow Jones Newswires Tullow’s huge discoveries in West Africa aren’t far from its own holdings in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, where it plans to drill in a major exploration campaign over the next 18 months.

Afren’s block in Cote d’Ivoire is on the border with Ghana and Tullow’s 1.2 billion barrel Jubilee field is on the other side of that border, he said.

“That’s very exciting for us,” Shahenshah said.

Earlier this month Tullow and its partner Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC) said they made a major discovery called Venus off the coast of Sierra Leone, raising the prospect of further finds in an area stretching through the waters of Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

“Increasingly, with every drilling success, of which there have been four or five in the past three months, that raises the prospectivity of our acreage and lowers the risk,” Shahenshah said.

Meanwhile, Tullow Oil started a 2,500 sq km 3D seismic shoot on the 35,200 sq km Guyane Maritime license off Guyana.

Existing seismic and well data indicate several large structural and stratigraphic prospects along the shelf edge and slope in 200-3,000 m of water that are similar in age and form to the oil discoveries made by Tullow Oil across the Atlantic off Ghana.
Previous exploration has focused on shelf structural prospects.

Northern Petroleum PLC has a 50 per cent interest in Northpet Investments Ltd., which has a 2.5 per cent interest in the Guyane Maritime license.

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