March 11, 2016 - 12:24 AM EST
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Tullow Oil Looks West As East Africa Slows Down

Tullow Oil will concentrate much of its financial muscle in

Ghana
for the better part of 2016, where it intends to ramp up oil production at its TEN project, while the company slows down its activities in
East Africa
.

Delays in receiving production licenses coupled with ongoing discussions over a least-cost route for a crude oil export pipe- line to an East African coast have slowed down Tullow's activities in

Uganda
.

In neighbouring

Kenya
, Tullow has completed exploration and an appraisal programme in its most lucrative basin there - the South Lokichar - where it has discovered 600 million barrels of oil.

As such, Tullow is now looking to

Ghana
, where it intends to achieve first oil at its Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) project by August this year. Its partner in the TEN project, Kosmos Energy, has announced it has slashed its expenditure bill for this year, and will spend only $200 million.

Tullow Oil intends to spend about $1.1 billion in its capital expenditure programme for 2016, down from $1.7 billion in 2015. The largest portion of this money will go towards

Ghana
.

Tullow Oil made a loss of $1 billion after tax in 2015 partly as a result of write- offs and impairment charges in a depressing environment of low oil prices, the company announced. Revenues were down 27 per cent in 2015, compared to 2014.

The company emphasised that exploration, where it has mastered the art in

Africa
, would remain a key part of its long-term strategy.
Kenya
remains lucrative for Tullow. The company said the South Lokichar basin could hold up to a billion barrels of oil, and that it would review prospects of exploring the basin further within the first half of this year.

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Source: Equities.com News (March 11, 2016 - 12:24 AM EST)

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