Tullow finds oil in Kenya

UK exploration company Tullow Oil announced on Tuesday that it found oil at its Etom-2 well in Block 13T in northern Kenya.

The discovery follows a successful extended well test of 38,000 barrels of oil per day at its 10BB block nearby. Tullow holds a 50% stake in both blocks.

The company is planning to move onto drilling in Block 12A having abandoned one dry well in northern Kenya’s Block 13T in November.

Tullow has been beset by trouble in Kenya. The company faced opposition from locals over another well in 2013 when it submitted a request to Kenyan authorities to move to a new exploration site in the Turkana basin.

According to reports from English-language newspaper Business Daily Africa, the company also owes money to local subsidiary of UK logistics firm Atlas Development for services, which announced the liquidation of its assets last week.

Atlas said more than 90% of the outstanding $2.2 million debt was owed by Tullow and the Kenyan state-owned Geothermal Development Corporation.