Oil and gas group Tower Resources has confirmed that drilling has started on the Iti-1 exploration well on its EA5 licence in Uganda.

The well is being drilled to an estimated depth of 650 metres, with operations set to take between two and three weeks to complete. Global Petroleum is earning up to a 50% interest in the EA5 licence.

Last month Tower raised £1.285 million in a share placing to fund its working capital commitments over the next 12 months. At the time, executive chairman Peter Kingston said that the company had become more confident about the prospectivity of its licences in recent months.

Kingston pointed to the fact that outstanding results in an adjacent licence to EA5 suggested that the imminent Ugandan well “could have huge implications for the future of the company”.