Exploration Area 1 in Uganda

The Exploration Area 1 (EA1) license area is operated by Total S.A., which acquired a 33% ownership share in the area in a farm-in with Tullow Oil completed in February 2012. Tullow and CNOOC are Total's partners in EA1, with a 33% stake each.

The license area is located onshore near the northern end of Lake Albert in Uganda's west, covering an area of 3,066 square kilometers. The area includes the oil fields Buffalo, Giraffe, Buffalo-1/Jobi-1, Giraffe-1/Rii, Warthog and Warthog-1/Ngiri, as well as the prospect fields Buffalo East, Crocodile, Leopard and Kob.

A three-well drilling program (at Warthog-1/Ngiri, Buffalo-1/Jobi-1 and Giraffe-1/Rii) revealed a billion barrel potential in EA1 in 2008, which according to Mergers and Acquisition Review was said to be the largest onshore oil discovery in Sub-Saharan Africa in over twenty years. This was followed by the drilling of the Ngiri-2 well in 2010, along with the Jobi-East-1 and Mpyo-3 appraisal wells in 2011.

EA1 is located in Murchison Falls National Park, an area with high environmental and ecological sensitivity. As of late 2012 Total was continuing with appraisal programs for at least three oil fields in the area, and expects to spend at least $300 million on drilling, according to Rigzone.