[KevO]

OK. So I added the second bit with me tongie in me cheek. But hadn't the US better quickly find a reason to be in Zambia? "Zambia has announced its first discoveries of oil and gas reserves.

The discoveries were made in north-western Zambia, an area that also has one of the world's largest reserves of copper. President Levy Mwanawasa said that samples from 12 sites have proved positive in tests conducted in Germany. Exploration had been carried out for the past two years" BBC ARTICLE

[NEOPO]

cool!! I just bought a hummer!!!

[rockdoc123]

Sorry what the President of Zambia is talking about is not oil wells having been drilled but rather geochemical sampling from 12 sites:

President Levy Mwanawasa said that samples from 12 sites have proved positive in tests conducted in Germany.

Basically samples are collected, usually from shallow boreholes and the material is sent to labs where it is run through a series of tests to see if there are traces of hydrocarbons present.

Geochemical anomalies are very common...all they tell you is that some amount of hydrocarbon was evolved from source rock at some time. What they do not tell you is whether there is sufficient source rock to result in large quanitites of hydrocarbons, whether the burial/temperature history of the basin was sufficient to create large volumes, whether there is sufficent reservoir rocks in trap configurations etc.

Encouraging but a long, long way from finding oil of any significance.