Africa Oil Corp.: Oil Discovery at Ngamia-1 Well in Kenya

Africa Oil Corp.: Oil Discovery at Ngamia-1 Well in Kenya

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — Africa Oil Corp. ("Africa Oil" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:AOI)(OMX:AOI) is pleased to announce an oil discovery on the Ngamia-1 well on Block 10BB, Kenya. Tullow Oil plc ("Tullow") is the operator with a 50% working interest and Africa Oil holds the remaining 50%.

The Ngamia-1 exploration well in Kenya has encountered over 20 metres of net oil pay. The well, located in the Lokichar Basin of Kenya Block 10BB, was drilled to an intermediate depth of 1,041 metres and has been successfully logged and sampled. Moveable oil with API gravity in excess of 30 degrees, with similar properties to the light waxy crude discovered in Uganda, has been recovered to surface. The reservoirs in this section are composed of good quality Tertiary age sandstones. The Lokichar Basin, where the Ngamia discovery has been made, is one of seven basins mapped in Africa Oil's acreage and is similar in size to the 9,000 square kilometre Lake Albert Rift basin in Uganda.

The Ngamia structure is the first prospect to be tested as part of a multi-well drilling campaign in the Tertiary Rift Basin in Kenya and Ethiopia. Many similar leads and prospects to Ngamia have been identified and following this discovery the outlook for further success has been significantly improved.

The well will now be drilled to a depth of approximately 2,700 metres to explore further potential. On completion of operations, the Weatherford 804 rig will move to the Tullow operated Kenya Block 10A where the Paipai-1 wildcat will spud in the second half of 2012. Africa Oil holds a 30% working interest in Block 10A.

Keith Hill, President and CEO of Africa Oil, commented, "We are extremely pleased that the first well in the drilling program has resulted in an oil discovery. These results will significantly de-risk nearby prospects and give encouragement for the remainder of the Tertiary rift basin. We look forward to an aggressive drilling program in next 18 months which will also test the potential of our other rift basin plays in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia."

Africa Oil Corp. is a Canadian oil and gas company with assets in Kenya, Ethiopia and Mali as well as Puntland (Somalia) through its 51% equity interest in Horn Petroleum Corporation. Africa Oil's East African holdings are in within a world-class exploration play fairway with a total gross land package in this prolific region in excess of 300,000 square kilometers. 

The East African Rift Basin system is one of the last of the great rift basins to be explored. New discoveries have been announced on all sides of Africa Oil's virtually unexplored land position including the major Albert Graben oil discovery in neighbouring Uganda. The Company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and on First North at NASDAQ OMX-Stockholm under the symbol "AOI".

Compiled by  Marcel Masaga,

Courtesy of MSNBC