UK-based oil exploration firm, Tullow Oil has recorded further success in their operation in northern Kenya as it made a new find in oil and natural gas deposits, with its partner, Canada’s Africa Oil also discovering gas in a separate site.

The British company’s struck oil at the Ngamia–2 well span across a 39-metre range, 1.7 kilometers from the Ngamia-1, where Kenya first found oil in 2012. Gas deposits discovered by Africa Oil however stretches across a 1,000-metre range at the Sala-1 site, although exact amount and viability of the deposit has not been ascertained.

“The success of the Ngamia-2 exploratory appraisal well builds on our major basin opening discovery well, Ngamia-1,” Angus McCoss, Tullow Oil Plc’s exploration director was quoted by Business Daily as saying.

McCoss said the new reservoir showed quality similar to the first one and will be suspended for testing, while the rig is moved to four other wells up for appraisal in the area.

Tullow has recorded remarkable success in Kenya, with oil already discovered at six other sites and two regarded as economically viable – Amosing-1 and Ewoi-1, both located in Block 10BB, where recent discoveries have raised the potential of the area from 600 million barrels of oil reserves to one billion barrels.

Tullow and Africa Oil hold a 50 percent shareholding each in resource-rich Block 10BB.

As rising insecurity in the East African country’s coastal region continues to pose threat to tourism, a sector responsible for about 10 percent of the country’ s GDP, Kenya will be hoping its natural resources will provide adequate coverage for the losses it is set to incur in terms of potential revenue.

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