UPDATE 1-Tullow H1 profit soars on oil price, field sale

(Adds interview with management, share price, analyst, detail)

By Tom Bergin

LONDON Aug 27 (Reuters) - UK-based oil explorer Tullow Oil (TLW.L) reported an almost 250 percent rise in first-half net profit, beating analysts' forecasts, thanks to high oil prices and the sale of a North Sea field.

Tullow said in a statement on Wednesday that net profit was 126 million pounds ($232.5 million) in the first six months of the year, up from 37 million pounds in the same period of 2007.

Chief Financial Officer Tom Hickey said the rise was mainly due to better prices for Tullow's oil and gas, while costs had generally been steady.

Chief Operating Officer Paul McDade told Reuters in an interview that Tullow had received no recent takeover approaches, despite the company occasionally being the subject of bid rumours.

This news caused a temporary dip in the shares, which soon recovered and were trading up 1.45 percent at 805 pence at 0811 GMT, outperforming a 0.41 percent rise in the DJ Stoxx European oil and gas sector index .SXEP.

Tullow, whose main producing assets are in Africa and the North Sea, gave a buoyant outlook for its Uganda exploration operations.

Exploration boss Paul McDade told Reuters that examination of drilling results gave the company greater confidence that its Ugandan fields may contain enough oil to justify construction of a pipeline through Kenya to the Indian Ocean.

"Comments on the Kingfisher discovery are positive," Citigroup said in a research note.

The company said Phase 1 of the Jubilee development in Ghana was on track for first oil in the second half of 2010.

Tullow said Hickey, who earlier this year announced he would step down, would be replaced as CFO by Ian Springett, formerly Group Vice President for Planning, at oil major BP (BP.L). (Reporting by Tom Bergin, editing by Will Waterman)