LONDON (Alliance News) - Tullow Oil PLC Friday said its partner in the Arouwe block offshore Gabon hit non-commercial oil when it was drilling the Sputnik-1 well, a find that Tullow described as "encouraging".
The Vantage Tungsten Explorer drill ship drilled Sputnik-1 to a final depth of 4,868 metres in water depths of 1,023 metres, but encountered non-commercial hydrocarbon pay in up to 300 metres of net sandstone reservoir, Tullow quoted partner Perenco as saying.
"The rig will now leave the Arouwe block and the results of this well will be incorporated into wider understanding of the region," Perenco said in the statement issued by Tullow.
Tullow has a 35% interest in the Arouwe block, while Perenco is operator with a 35% interest. ExxonMobil has a 30% interest.
"This is an encouraging result from the pre-salt play, offshore Gabon. Having found a petroleum system, we will now take the data from this well and integrate it with our seismic data to discuss with partners our next steps for the licence," Tullow Oil Exploration Director Angus McCoss said in a statement.
Tullow Oil separately said it has completed the sale of 53.1% of its Schooner unit interest and 60% of its Ketch asset in the UK southern North Sea to Faroe Petroleum PLC. Faroe now has operatorship of the assets.
Tuillow said it is continuing to market its remaining southern North Sea UK gas assets, after it last month sold interests in the Netherlands and in July sold its interest in a field in Norway.
"These transactions, the sale of Tullow's gas assets in Bangladesh, and the agreement to sell the Pakistan business, is aligned with Group's strategy of active portfolio management and monetisation of assets," the company said in a statement.
Separately, Faroe Petroleum PLC confirmed it had completed the acquisition of the 53.1% operated interest in the Schooner Field and a 60% operated interest in the Ketch Field from Tullow.
"Remaining Proved and Probable Reserves, as evaluated by the company as at 1 January 2014 were 5.9 million barrels of oil equivalent net to Faroe Petroleum. Average economic production for the first six months net to the company was approximately 3,700 barrels of oil equivalent," it said in a statement.
"Schooner and Ketch are good quality producing fields, well known to the company and which offer upside potential in the form of increasing reserves, production and field life. The transaction is tax efficient for us, providing shelter for both past and future tax losses in the UK and is in line with our strategy to grow our production portfolio to continue the efficient funding of Faroe's ongoing exploration and appraisal programme," Faroe Petroleum Chief Executive Graham Stewart said.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
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Tullow Oil (TLW)