Tower Resources plc has appointed Envoi to find a partner to join them in progressing and accelerating the exploration of Block EA5 in the Northern part of Uganda. This large 2,941 km block is located in the Rhino Camp Basin, which is the underexplored northerly extension of the newly discovered Albertine Graben play trend where a host of multi million barrel oil discoveries have been made since 2007.

Tower Resources, the AIM listed, London-based independent, licenses and operates Block EA5 100% through its Ugandan subsidiary, Neptune Petroleum. Tower has spent nearly US$ 35 million to date and is looking for a partner to earn up to a 50% working interest in the Block based on a negotiated contribution to the forward work programme including infill seismic and at least one exploration well before March 2012.

The large Sambia prospect is one of two identified so far within the block which has an estimated reserve potential between 50 and 100 MMbbls based on conservative reservoir properties when compared with those already proven in Block EA1 immediately to the south. An aero gravity gradiometry survey has just been completed and it is expected that additional large structural features will be revealed which may have greater prospectivity than wells drilled to date and existing prospects. Tower's acreage is therefore on trend with the string of large multi-billion oil discoveries (est. 400+ MMbor) made by the group including Tullow, which is operated by Heritage Oil and Gas.

Mike Lakin, Managing Director of Envoi Limited, specialist A and D advisors to the oil and gas sector, said;
'Uganda represents one of the World's recent exploration success stories and proof that land locked Africa still offers huge unexplored potential, and big returns for those looking for the exploration upside and viable alternatives to the competitive offshore play areas. The recent spate of discoveries, new field development and planned new infrastructure in the area immediately south of Tower's acreage will only serve to unlock Block EA5's on trend play potential as well as increasing the country's stability and newly found prosperity.

“Importantly, Tower’s Block, as one of the early Licences awarded, may also benefit from licence terms and fiscal terms which are more favourable than for licences awarded in the future, which are likely to be smaller” he added.

Tower’s work in Block EA5 to date, including new seismic acquired in 2008 and more recent drilling, has confirmed the Rhino Camp Basin as part of the Albertine Graben and does indeed contain analogue play potential to that discovered immediately to the south. Tower’s work to date has confirmed and delineated two main prospect areas comprising Sambia and Obongi which are both situated along the central ridge in the centre of the graben within their Block and more prospects are expected to be confirmed by ongoing geophysical programmes. Tower’s most recent evaluation of the pressure gradients encountered over the potential reservoir interval in the Iti-1 well drilled in 2009, which tested a peripheral part of a Sambia/Iti structural feature, now also supports the presence of an oil column in low permeability reservoir sand and even a possible Oil Water Contact at the spill-point of structural closure into Sambia. A part of the coming seismic programme will be infill seismic planned to more accurately map the Sambia and Iti structures to assess whether reservoir quality may improve sufficiently to justify a new drilling location to further explore the Sambia prospect and, at some stage, appraise the Iti-1 well.