Senegal a bonanza for Cairn Energy

EDINBURGH, Scotland, May 19 (UPI) -- A drilling program off the coast of Senegal has yielded better than expected results at a cost that was substantially under budget, Cairn Energy said Thursday.

"We have now drilled four successful appraisal wells in Senegal and we are delighted with the results," Cairn Energy Chief Executive Simon Thomson said in a statement.

The company, which has headquarters in Scotland, confirmed a discovery offshore Senegal in January. It put the preliminary contingent reserve estimate at the SNE field offshore Senegal at about 385 million barrels of oil, about 20 percent higher than initial estimates.

The company's latest analysis surveyed results from a gross column of oil measuring 325 feet thick. The eastern edge of the SNE field was found to extend another three miles beyond what was originally mapped.

West Africa has drawn interest from international energy companies eager to tap into unexploited reserves.

Cairn's counterparts at Australia's FAR Ltd. said last year it was evaluating the potential for commercial operations in a basin said to hold at least 200 million barrels of oil off the coast of Senegal.

Thomson said the operations in Senegal were under budget and ahead of schedule.

"We see clear potential to access additional cost savings from the current lower operating environment in respect of planned future activity," he said.