KAMPALA, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Tullow Oil, a company exploring for oil in western Uganda, announced on Tuesday that it had struck oil and natural gas deposits at Taitai-1 exploration well, located in Butiaba region in the Lake Albert Rift Basin.

    The London-based company said in a statement on its website that exploration at Taitai-1 well encountered five meters of net gas pay and at least eight meters of net oil pay.

    "Downhole pressure testing and sampling has confirmed the presence of moveable 30 degrees API oil and a potential oil column of up to 80 meters, in sands above the basement play," the statement added.

    Aidan Heavey, Chief Executive of Tullow, said the latest discovery has proved the existence of a working petroleum system over 70 km from the previous wells drilled in the Kaiso Tonya region.

    He said the discovery reinforces the potential of Lake Albert Rift Basin as a major emerging petroleum province.

    "We are encouraged by the Taitai result and look forward to the remainder of the campaign in the Butiaba area," he said.

    The Taitai-1 well is the first of a nine-well exploration campaign in the Butiaba area located in Block 2.

    The company said after more confirmatory tests of the Taitai 1well, operations will be moved to another exploration well, Lanya-1, at the end of May.

    The government says the discovery of various oil deposits in the Albertine region and successful exploitation will boost the country's economic growth.

    Already, it has agreed on an early production scheme set to start in 2009 to use a limited amount of oil to fuel a thermal power plant.

    The country is currently facing a power deficit, which analysts say is stifling its economic growth.

    The discoveries are also expected to offset the country's enormous oil import bill of more than 160 million U.S. dollars annually.