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London-based explorer Tullow Oil Plc said a well it drilled offshore Ghana had struck oil, proving the existence of a 'major' new field and boosting hopes that drilling in neighbouring countries will also yield finds.

Tullow shares jumped almost 4 percent to hit a record 1,375 pence on the results of the Tweneboa-2 well, before falling back.

'It is clear this is a materially higher value discovery than previously assumed in the market,' analysts at Bernstein said in a research note.

Tullow's exploration boss Angus McCoss said the company would likely review its current reserves estimates for the field, which put P50, or proved plus probable recoverable reserves, at 250 million barrels, and possible resources of 1.4 billion boe.

Analysts immediately upped their estimates.

'We increase our P50 estimate from 250 million to 500 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) but ultimately it could exceed 1 billion boe,' Richard Griffith at Evo Securities said.

Griffith also upped his target price for the stock by 75 pence to 1,450p.

The find was in the Deepwater Tano licence, in which private equity-backed Kosmos Energy, U.S-based Anadarko Petroleum , privately-owned Sabre Oil & Gas and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation are also partners.

Tweneboa is west of the Jubilee field, which has P50 reserves of 1.2 billion barrels, and which will turn Ghana into an oil producer when it starts pumping later this year.

Tullow and its partners also have exploration properties across the maritime boundary in Ivory Coast, and in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

McCoss said the Tweneboa find supports Tullow's theory that Jubilee is just one of a series of big fields along the West Africa coast.

'This is a great way to start the Equatorial Africa
drilling campaign for 2010,' McCoss told Reuters in an interview.

Tullow shares were up 0.5 percent at 1,330 pence at 1220 GMT, in line with the DJ Stoxx European oil and gas sector index .

The stock has risen sharply through the past year, having ended 2008 at around 660p, on the back of the finds in Ghana and in Uganda