Tullow Expands Portfolio With US$23.8MM Acquisition Of East African Rift Basin Assets

To acquire 50% interest in 5 licenses in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Tullow Oil Plc, London, (London: TLW) has acquired a 50 percent operated interest in adjacent licenses in Kenya and Ethiopia from Africa Oil Corp. in exchange for up to US$23.8 million in future net expenditures.

Tullow will gain a 50 percent interest in blocks 10BB, 10A, 12A and 13T in Kenya and the South Omo block in Ethiopia. The acquisition expands on Tullow's farm-in of Block 10BA from London-based Centric Energy Corp., announced in August.

The licenses cover the East African rift basin, which Tullow says shares many geographical attributes with its Lake Albert rift basin acreage in Uganda but is about 10 times larger. Seismic programs are planned beginning this year, with the first wells expected to be drilled in 2011.

The transactions are subject to government approvals.

Tullow exploration director Angus McCoss says, "Rift basins are a core play for Tullow and to date we have discovered and identified resources in excess of 2.5 billion barrels in the Lake Albert rift basin in Uganda. We look forward to working with our new partners and applying our valuable technical insights to this under-explored frontier region of East Africa."