Tullow optimistic on Ghana field

By Tom Bergin

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil explorer Tullow Oil (TLW.L: Quote, Profile, Research) gave an optimistic outlook for reserves and production startup at its main Ghana field and disclosed another discovery in Uganda on Wednesday, lifting its shares.

Tullow said in a statement on Wednesday that reserves at its Jubilee field in Ghana could be as much as 1.8 billion barrels and that it was on track for first oil in 2010 as good progress was being made in its drilling programme.

Tullow shares traded up 2.9 percent at 898.5 pence at 9:23 a.m., outperforming a 0.5 percent rise in the DJ Stoxx European oil and gas sector index .

"The tone of the trading update was very bullish," Richard Griffith at Evolution Securities said. "If the drilling programme proves highly successful the share price could head towards 20 pounds."

Chief Financial Officer Tom Hickey told Reuters in a telephone interview that production at Jubilee could top 250,000 barrels per day when it reaches full production.

Hickey also said the Karuka-1 well in Uganda had struck oil.

Tullow said group working interest production for the first half of 2008 averaged 70,550 boepd, 1 percent higher than the 2007 average and forecast average working interest production of between 70,000 and 72,000 boepd for 2008.

(Reporting by Tom Bergin; editing by Sue Thomas)