Bounty told the market yesterday that the gas shows seen at a depth of 1163-1241m indicated the presence of hydrocarbons in the Kiliwani structure.
Spudded on November 15, the well is being cased before drilling restarts towards a total depth of 2340m in Lower Cretaceous sands.
The well is being directionally drilled from the island of Kiliwni into the same reservoir that is producing gas in the Songo Songo gas field, 4km away.
A second well, Kiliwani North-1, will test the same reservoir system, as well as a shallower oil play with the potential to contain 10 million barrels of recoverable oil.
Key Petroleum, which listed on the Australian bourse in April, will have a 20% interest in the production sharing contract by paying 30% of the cost to drill the two wells.
Fellow Australian junior Bounty will have a 6% stake, while operator Aminex has 39%, RAK Gas has 25% and East Africa Exploration has 10%.
