Tullow Oil plc (Tullow) has announced that the Buffalo-1 exploration well, which is located in the Butiaba region of Uganda Block 1, has encountered 15m of net gas pay and over 28m of net oil pay within a 123m gross interval. Although at an early stage of evaluation, this discovery is potentially the largest in the Butiaba Area to date. The well was drilled some 500m from the crest of the structure to a total depth of 637m and has been successfully logged. Downhole pressure testing and sampling have confirmed the presence of dry gas and moveable oil that has been recovered to surface. Reservoir quality in all pay zones is excellent. The gas and oil columns encountered are 48m and 75m respectively with the potential to be even larger. Further exploration and appraisal may uncover significant upside in the undrilled areas of what could be a very substantial trap. Buffalo-1 is the fifth successful test of the Victoria Nile delta play fairway within the Lake Albert Rift Basin and was drilled 16km NE of the Warthog-1 and Kasamene-1 discoveries. This latest result extends the play further north and de-risks several adjacent prospects, located in Blocks 1 and 2, which are scheduled for drilling in 2009. The well has now been suspended as a future producer and the rig is being moved 5km south to the location of the Giraffe prospect where drilling will commence in late December. This well will also appraise some of the upside potential of the Buffalo discovery.
