Mauritania - well update

RNS Number : 4896F

Tullow Oil PLC

25 April 2014

 



News Release

Mauritania - well update

25 April 2014 - Tullow Oil plc (Tullow) today announces that the Tapendar-1 exploration well in the C-10 licence, offshore Mauritania, has not encountered hydrocarbons and the well is being plugged and abandoned.

Tapendar-1 is the second exploration well in Tullow's Mauritania exploration campaign, following the Frégate-1 well in February 2014. The objective of Tapendar-1 was to test two targets of Miocene and Upper Cretaceous age. At the Miocene interval a major undrilled turbidite fairway was penetrated and encountered excellent quality, well developed, reservoir sands. However, these sands were water bearing at this location. The deeper Upper Cretaceous target tested a salt flank play, which at this location, did not encounter any sands. The well reached total depth of 3,752 metres and is currently being plugged and abandoned after which the Stena DrillMax drill ship will leave Mauritania.

Tullow has a significant exploration position offshore Mauritania. A variety of exploration prospects and plays, independent of the Tapendar and Frégate results, remain highly prospective. Data from the Frégate-1 and Tapendar-1 wells will now be analysed and integrated into the seismic data previously acquired across Tullow's Mauritania acreage before the next well locations and timings are confirmed. Seismic acquisition in Blocks C-3 and C-18 will also continue this year.

Tullow operates the C-10 licence with 59.10% equity and is partnered by Premier Oil plc (6.23%), Kufpec (11.12%), Petronas (13.5%) and SMHPM (10%).  

Angus McCoss, Exploration Director, Tullow Oil plc, commented today:

"The Tapendar-1 frontier exploration well was a bold attempt to open a new oil play in this area of Tullow's highly prospective offshore Mauritania acreage which the Group has built up in pursuit of the next Jubilee-type discovery. At this well location, two targets of Miocene and Upper Cretaceous age failed to encounter hydrocarbons. Following these opening wells, we and our partners will now pause to analyse the data gathered from the exploration campaign thus far. We will then decide on the location and timings of the next wells which will continue to focus on exploring for conventional oil plays."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Tullow Oil plc (London) ([phone]) Chris Perry (Investor Relations) James Arnold (Investor Relations) George Cazenove (Media Relations)

Citigate Dewe Rogerson (London) ([phone]) Martin Jackson Shabnam Bashir

Murray Consultants (Dublin) ([phone]) Pat Walsh Joe Heron

Notes to Editors              

Tullow Oil plc

Tullow is a leading independent oil & gas, exploration and production group, quoted on the London, Irish and Ghanaian stock exchanges (symbol: TLW) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The Group has interests in over 140 exploration and production licences across 24 countries which are managed as three regional business units: West & North Africa, South & East Africa and Europe, South America and Asia.

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