/ 23 October 2009

France’s Total finds oil offshore in Angola

French oil major Total has made an offshore oil discovery in Angola, the company said on Friday.

Total said its Tepa subsidiary and Sociedade Nacional de Combustiveis de Angola (Sonangol EP) had discovered oil on Block 17/06, in the deep waters of the Angolan offshore.

Gardenia-1 is the first well and the first discovery made on Block 17/06 and was drilled in a water depth of 977m.

The well discovered hydrocarbon reservoirs, both in the Miocene and the Oligocene. On the Miocene interval, the well produced 4 000 barrels per day (b/d) of 25 API° oil during tests, Total added.

”This first discovery of Gardenia-1 confirms the potential of the north-western part of Block 17/06. A campaign of further drilling on the block will start on the fourth quarter 2009,” the company said. — Reuters