Tullow abandons Kenya well

UK-headquartered oil exploration company Tullow Oil announced a decision to withdraw from an exploration well in Northern Kenya in a series of uncommercial operations in Africa.

The company’s stocks plunged to a seven-year low after the October announcements as expectations for the company’s exploration activities dampened.
A brief rise on Monday following the global rise in oil prices caused by supply disruption concerns in the Middle East added 8.9 pence to the company’s share price.

The abandonment follows an October announcement of two more dry wells in Gabon. A 75 percent budget cut reduced the company’s exploration financing with $250 million since mid-2014, limiting the extent of its operations.

Tullow’s lack of progress in Kenya dates to 2013, when it requested to move to a new exploration site in the same basin but met with the opposition of locals. The 3,000-metre Emesek-1 well will now be plugged and exploration activities will move to the south of the basin.