British firm Tullow Oil PLC and Australia's Pancontinental
Oil & Gas have announced that they have encountered natural gas in
the Mbawa-1 exploration well located in the licensed L8 offshore area, Malindi.
“While we have not finished operations in Mbawa 1, this gas
discovery is very promising and it is the first ever substantive hydrocarbon
discovery offshore Kenya,” Pancontinental CEO Barry Rushworth said in a
statement.
The Mbawa-1 exploration well has been drilled to a depth of
2,553 metres and has encountered approximately 52m of net gas pay in porous
cretaceous sandstones. The well will now be drilled to a total depth of 3,275m
targeting further exploration.
Tullow and Pancontinental hold a 15 percent stake each in
the license consortium with drilling operator Apache Corp holding a 50 percent
interest and Origin Energy the remaining 20 percent.
The venture has also attracted several multinational oil
exploration companies that are expected to start bidding for eight new offshore
oil and gas exploration sites in the country in the coming days.
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