Tullow Oil shares rise

Tullow Oil's shares rose yesterday following news that it has found gas in one of its North Sea properties off the English coast.

By close of business yesterday, shares in the Irish explorer were up 3.35 pence, or more than 1 per cent, at 323.75 pence. The group announced that it has found reservoir quality gas in its K4 well in one of its blocks in the North Sea.

The company said that the find was made 5km southest of the Kelvin discovery it made last year. Any development of K4 is likely to be via the existing Kelvin field. Tullow owns 22.5 per cent of K4. The other partners are Conoco Phillips with 50 per cent and GDF Britain Ltd, which holds the remaining 27.5 per cent.

Tullow also announced that drilling in a block off Equatorial Guinea in West Africa failed to turn up any oil or gas.

However, the company said that following a farm out of rights last year, Tullow was spared a substantial part of the costs for this work. The company's chief executive, Aidan Heavey, said yesterday that K4 was Tullow's seventh consecutive gas discovery in the North Sea. "This demonstrates the strength of our UK portfolio," he claimed.

The company has exploration and production interests in Gabon, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo, Guinea and Namibia in Africa.