Oil exploration in north east of Kenya is rapidly progressing, with the commencement of drilling at the Badada-1 well in Block 2B of the Mandera Basin. This comes at a time global oil prices have crashed below $50 per barrel.

Operator of the block, Lion Petroleum, a wholly owned Kenyan subsidiary of the Canadian oil and gas exploration firm Taipan Resources announced that drilling started on Wednesday.

“The spudding of the Badada-1 well is an important milestone for both Taipan and Lion Petroleum,” said Maxwell Birley, CEO of Taipan Resources.

The company, which holds 30 percent economic interest in the block, plans to drill the well to a total depth of between 3,000 and 4,000 metres to test Tertiary age reservoirs analogous to those in the Lokichar basin where Tullow and Africa Oil have made discoveries estimated at 616 million barrels.

Other firms with working interests in the block include two UK firms; Tower Resources, with 15 percent, and Premier Oil, with 55 percent.

“We, along with our partners, Tower Resources and Premier Oil, are extremely excited about the opportunity that Badada presents as a potential play opener which could generate considerable upside from a follow-on exploration programme,” Birley adds, making no comments about how current global oil glut which has crashed prices could affect business prospects.

Taipan expects drilling to take up to 70 days to complete.