More oil has been found in block 15 off Angola in west Africa â the 14th deepwater discovery in this acreage.
Statoil has a 13.33 per cent holding in the licence and in block 17, which rank between them as Angolaâs âgolden blocksâ. West Africa is one of the groupâs international core assets.
The new find has been dubbed Clochas 1, report Angolan state oil company Sonangol and operator ExxonMobil.
Drilled in 1,295 metres of water to a depth of 3,140 metres, the discovery well is estimated by the operator to be capable of flowing just over 5,000 barrels per day.
All the finds in block 15 have been made over the past five years, and ExxonMobil estimates that they add up to more than four billion barrels of recoverable oil.
The latest discovery is interesting in the context of the other finds, says Morten Rye-Larsen, exploration manager for west Africa in Statoilâs International Exploration & Production business area.
He notes that three field developments are currently under way in block 15, with Xikomba and Kizomba A in full swing and Kizomba B approved. Xikomba is due to come on stream in late 2003.