Tullow Oil plc announces the acquisition of a 50% operated interest in six adjacent licences covering the East African Rift Basins of Kenya and Ethiopia, an area of 97,000 sq km.

Tullow has signed agreements with Africa Oil Corp ("Africa Oil") to gain a 50% interest in five licences; Blocks 10BB, 10A, 12A and 13T in Kenya and the South Omo Block in Ethiopia. This acquisition expands on the farm-in to Block 10BA from Centric Energy ("Centric") announced in August.

Under the terms of the agreements with Africa Oil, Tullow will reimburse pro-rata past costs in each of these blocks and will carry Africa Oil for future net expenditures up to US$23.75 million.

This East African Rift Basin acreage shares many geological attributes with Tullow's Lake Albert Rift Basin position in Uganda however it is approximately ten times larger. The acreage, which is located 500 km to the east of Lake Albert has good evidence of a live oil system. The Loperot-1 well drilled in 1992 recovered 29 degree API waxy crude from Miocene sandstones. Seismic programmes are planned for the acreage in 2010 and 2011 and the first wells are expected to be drilled next year.

The above transactions are subject to formal government approvals.