company traded as lse tlw gse tlw iseq tqw industry oil and gas exploration founded 1985 in tullow ireland headquarters london united kingdom key people simon thompson chairman aidan heavey ceo products oil and gas revenue 1 606.6 million 2015 1 operating income 1 093.7 million 2015 1 net income 1 036.9 million 2015 1 website www.tullowoil.com tullow oil plc is a multinational oil and gas exploration company founded in tullow ireland with its headquarters in london united kingdom . 2 it has interests in over 150 licenses across 25 countries with 67 producing fields and in 2012 produced on average 79 200 barrels of oil equivalent per day . 3 its largest activities are in africa and the atlantic margins where it has discovered new oil provinces in ghana uganda kenya and french guiana . tullow s main production comes from six countries in africa as well as the southern north sea and asia . 4 5 ghana s offshore jubilee oil field which was discovered in 2007 and started production in december 2010 is tullow s largest discovery . 2 as at 31 december 2012 tullow had total group reserves and resources of 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent including commercial reserves of 388 million barrels of oil equivalent . 6 tullow s 2012 exploration and appraisal drilling success rate was 74 % 6 around double the industry average ; 7 this success has been ascribed to its drilling in geological formations similar to those in which oil has been discovered at other locations . for example a formation off the coast of south america which is similar to formations in west africa . 7 tullow has a primary listing on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 250 index . it has a market capitalisation of approximately 2.75 billion as of 15 july 2015 . 8 it has secondary listings on the ghana stock exchange and irish stock exchange . contents 1 history 2 operations 3 major projects 4 controversies 4.1 heritage oil court case 4.2 political lobbying 4.3 tax avoidance 4.4 tax dispute 4.5 bribery allegations 4.6 kenyan opposition to exploration 4.7 illegal waste dumping 5 corporate responsibility 6 references 7 external links history edit the company was founded by aidan heavey in 1985 in tullow ireland as a gas exploration business operating in senegal . 2 it started in a small town called tullow about 35 miles south of dublin ireland . in the 80s there were loads of companies starting off in the north sea and irish celtic sea . i was talking to a friend of mine in the bank one day and he was talking about small oil fields in africa which had been left behind by the majors and had no one to work them . that is where the idea came from . i contacted another friend of mine in the world bank who told me about a project in senegal . they had some small gas fields that they were trying to get people to develop so i setup tullow oil to rework those old fields . i knew nothing about the oil and gas industry at the time which made it more challenging . no one thought tullow would succeed because of my lack of knowledge of the industry no major backers and i was starting a company in a country with no oil industry . aiden heavey ceo 2 following the signing of a licence agreement in senegal in 1986 gas production and sales commenced in 1987 . the same year tullow listed its shares on the london stock exchange and irish stock exchange tullow joined the ftse 100 index in september 2007 . 2 8 in 1988 tullow expanded its operations into the uk by acquiring exploration acreage and proven gas fields . in 1989 tullow was awarded its first onshore uk licence and acquired exploration acreage in spain italy and south yemen . 2 in 1990 tullow signed its first license agreement in pakistan laying the foundations for the group s south asia portfolio of assets . gas was discovered at the sara field in pakistan in 1994 and eventually brought on stream in 1999 . new countries were added throughout the decade with licenses acquired in bangladesh india c te d ivoire egypt and romania . activities were relinquished in four countries during the period . 2 2000 saw the beginning of a period of an accelerated pace of activity for tullow starting with the announcement of a 201 million 2 acquisition of producing gas fields and related infrastructure in the uk southern north sea from bp . this proved to be a catalyst for the group s positioning as a leading player in the cms and thames hewett areas . in 2000 tullow re registered in the uk . 2 2001 to 2003 was the first defining and transformational period for the group with the integration of its 2000 uk acquisition and growing production in core areas as a result of re investment in exploration and development activities . strong increases in sales and profits were achieved and tullow focused its financial resources and management attention on offshore uk west africa and south asia . 2 the group more than doubled in size in 2004 mainly as a result of the energy africa acquisition which was completed in may that year for 570m . 2 overall tullow spent us 1 billion on acquisitions and investments in 2004 creating a strong portfolio of international exploration production and development assets . the integration of energy africa progressed well and tullow delivered a very good operational and financial performance in 2005 . it had two uk north sea gas discoveries one discovery in gabon and one in mauritania . 2 in 2006 the company began drilling its first well in uganda and has since drilled circa 50 wells around the lake albert region . 2 there were five oil discoveries in uganda during 2006 which established the existence of a working hydrocarbon basin and marked the beginning of proving up a world class major new oil province there . tullow also announced its largest acquisition ever with a us 1.1 billion bid for hardman resources limited . 9 this transaction became effective in december 2006 and completed in january 2007 . 2 in 2007 tullow drilled two deep water wells offshore ghana discovering the massive jubilee field 10 its largest ever discovery and the beginnings of proving up a second new major oil province . 2 2008 2009 was its next phase of growth with a major focus on africa based on delivering first oil in ghana in 2010 . 11 in february 2010 the oil firm initiated a tax planning exercise that was criticised by heritage s counsel during the heritage tullow court case in 2013 as an attempt to reduce the amount of tax the firm was liable to pay in uganda . richard inch head of tax at tullow firmly rejected the criticism whilst giving evidence in this case . 12 in november 2010 the jubilee field was brought on to production 11 in record time some 40 months after its discovery . a new major discovery was also made at the enyenra owo and tweneboa fields in ghana during the year . 13 in 2011 the company bought into twenty five dutch north sea gas fields 14 and in march 2012 a new oil reserve was discovered in kenya . 15 in 2012 the company encountered non commercial reservoirs at its teak 4a well off ghana leading to the well having to be plugged and abandoned . 16 tullow completed the purchase of heritage oil s licences in the lake albert area in 2010 for 1.45 bn and on 21 february 2012 completed a farm down of two thirds of its interests to total and cnooc for us 2.9 billion . but tullow and its partners have yet to reach agreement with the government of uganda over a plan to develop lake albert including a proposed refinery and export pipeline . 17 in 2012 there were some production delays at the jubilee field 18 but the company announced on 13 february 2013 that production issues at the jubilee field had been successfully and cost effectively remediated and that production was now at around 110 000 bopd with an expected 2013 year end exit rate of over 120 000 bopd . 19 the firm and its leadership were criticised in january 2013 after a decrease in its share price . this was reportedly because the company had failed to reach production targets at a project in ghana because of operational hiccups . this prompted the broker investec to rate the company a sell and decrease its target price . 7 also causing problems were the oil fields known as the ten that tullow discovered off the coast of ghana . the fields were a significant find but the projected development cost of the fields was estimated to exceed 5 billion which is too much for a firm of tullow s size . 7 the company has suggested it may reduce its share in projects to help reduce the cost burden of developments . 6 in uganda tullow and its partners cnocc and total continues to work with the government of uganda on the development plan for lake albert which is to include a local refinery and international pipeline . 20 in april 2014 tullow braced itself for a substantial investor backlash over excessive payouts to senior directors at the company . ceo aidan heavey came under particular scrutiny after it emerged that his pay had risen from 2.6 million to 2.8 million in 2013 despite tullow s share price decreasing by as much as 30 percent during that period . 21 operations edit tullow oil plc is one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in europe . the group is entering its next phase of growth with a major focus on africa and the atlantic margins basin where tullow is already a dominant player following exploration success in ghana french guiana uganda and kenya . tullow has a large portfolio of exploration and production assets with a focus on balanced long term growth . the group has interests in over 150 licences across more than 20 countries producing from a total of 67 fields . in 2012 average working interest production was 79 200 boepd generating sales revenue of 2.3 bn with capital expenditure of around 1.9 bn . the majority of spend was again focused on africa and atlantic margins operations ensuring the world class projects in ghana and uganda and exploration activity in kenya ethiopia and west africa and south america continue to deliver future growth . 22 major projects edit tullow has had significant exploration success in uganda lake albert and ghana jubilee ten where two new hydrocarbon provinces have been established and major developments have commenced . the success from these two basins and geological play types has led tullow to expand its acreage positions in an effort to replicate the transformation success ghana and uganda has brought to the business . in west africa and across the atlantic in south america tullow has made further jubilee like deepwater discoveries and a high impact exploration campaign continues . in east africa tullow acquired significant acreage positions in kenya and ethiopia with the first well in kenya in 2012 making an important discovery at ngamia 1 which was swiftly followed by the success at twiga south 1 . a significant number of exploration and appraisal wells will now be drilled in this region over the coming years as tullow attempts to open an entirely new oil province . in uganda tullow has drilled over 50 wells since 2006 . tullow is now working closely with the government and its partners on a basin wide development plan with the potential to produce