LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - British oil firm Tullow Oil said its latest well off the coast of French Guiana didnot find oil, in a further blow to exploration hopes off theSouth American country.
The company, an explorer hunting for oil across West andEast Africa as well as off the coast of French Guiana, Surinameand Guyana, also said on Tuesday that a well in Mozambiquediscovered only small amounts of gas.
Tullow, partnered with Norway's Statoil off thecoast of Mozambique, has this year been under pressure todeliver positive drilling news. Oil finds in Kenya helpeddeliver a boost to its prospects earlier in July.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley said that the two wells formedonly a fraction of Tullow's exploration portfolio, one whichoffered significant upside.
Tullow and its partners in the French Guiana well whichinclude oil majors Shell and Total said theGM-ES-4 did not find any indications of hydrocarbons.
The well announcement follows disappointing drilling resultsin two other wells off the coast of French Guiana. The partnerswill now drill a final well in the area where they made an oildiscovery in 2011.
In Mozambique, an exploration hot spot after huge gasdiscoveries made in recent years, Tullow said that the firstdeep water well drilled in area 2 found gas but not instandalone commercial quantities.
Tullow, whose focus is on developing oil fields rather thangas, said the results in Mozambique were encouraging for itsplan to find oil.
"The potential for discovering oil in this region remainsafter we encountered wet gas shows in the deeper sidetrack. Wewill integrate this valuable data into our regional model toimprove our chances of unlocking the oil play potential offshoreMozambique," Exploration Director Angus McCoss said.
Two small British explorers, Wessex Exploration andNorthern Petroleum also own 1.25 percent stakes in thelicence in French Guiana.
