Paladin Resources (Gabon) Ltd. (Paladin) and Tullow Oil's wholly owned subsidiary, Energy Africa Gabon SA (EAGSA) entered into participation agreements with Forest Oil Gryphon Marin BV whereby Paladin will earn 20% working interest and EAGSA will earn a 15% working interest in the Gryphon Marin permit in the southern Gabon offshore. This working interest is in addition to EAGSA's existing option on 10% participation in the event of a commercial development. Partners in the license are now Forest (operator with 40%), PetroSA (25%), Paladin (20%), and Energy Africa (15 %).

The Gryphon Marin Permit is in shallow water and covers 9,764 sq km. The exploration program includes reprocessing of existing 3D seismic data, acquisition of additional 3D data, and the drilling of an exploration well in 2005. The farm-ins are subject to the approval of the Gabonese authorities.

In Africa, Tullow has production in Gabon, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo (Brazzaville), and Equatorial Guinea. It also has exploration programs in Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, and Egypt. The company has interests in 15 licenses in Gabon. Net production from the Group's Gabon interests currently averages over 16,000 b/d.

8/16/04