Tullow: Sees Multi Billion-Barrel Potential Offshore W Africa

Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN) sees multi-billion barrel potential for oil discoveries in the waters of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone with six prospects that could be of the scale of its 1.2 billion barrel Jubilee discovery in Ghana, the company's exploration director Angus McCoss said Wednesday.

It will take a couple of years of further exploration and appraisal drilling to investigate and de-risk those prospects, he said. "This is the beginning of a long journey," he said.

Tullow's partner Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) will drill another wildcat well shortly offshore the Ivory Coast on the South Grand Lahou prospect, using the same rig that drilled the successful Venus-B well offshore Sierra Leone, McCoss said. Both Tullow and Anadarko have access to a fleet of rigs and McCoss envisage further drilling in the Liberian basin in 2010.

The scale of this opportunity means Tullow has no desire to sell the company, he said. "We have absolutely no appetite or interest to do anything other than focus on growing the business. We are a long-term business," he said. Tullow has long been the subject of takeover speculation.

Company Web site: www.tullowoil.com

-By James Herron, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]