Business
Kenya strikes natural gas – though amount not yet commercial
Apache will spend the next year interpreting the data from Mbawa to determine if the gas was dry or the result of an oil formation. It will then drill a second well in the L8 block at the end of 2013.
“The key to remember is that we’ve proven that there is hydrocarbon source below Lamu Basin offshore Kenya and now all we have to do is further characterize it to figure out where the best next place to drill is,” Gilblom said.
Tullow’s exploration director called the gas show “an encouraging start”.
“Although the deeper targets at this location were unsuccessful these results will be vital in evaluating the still significant prospectivity of this block,” McCoss said in a statement.
Tullow’s shares fell 2 percent to US$21.89 on Tuesday afternoon following the news that the well would be abandoned, but analysts at Oriel pointed to the wider significance of the gas find to the exploration campaign.
Recent discoveries offshore Tanzania and Mozambique have already given rise to hopes that East Africa will become a major new supplier of gas to energy-hungry Asia and Tanzania now estimates it has 28.74 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas reserves.
Earlier this year, Kenya announced its’ first onshore oil strike.
