The 17th oil strike has been made in the deepwater block 15 off Angola in west Africa, where Statoil has a 13.33 per cent interest.
Announced by operator Esso and Angolan state oil company Sonangol, the discovery was made by the Bavuca-1 well.
This was drilled in 1,094 metres of water to a total measured depth of 3,235 metres, and flowed at a rate of 2,726 barrels of oil per day during a production test.
Esso Exploration Angola has 40 per cent of block 15, where Sonangol is the concessionaire.
In addition to Statoil, the other partners are BP Exploration with 26.67 per cent and ENI Angola Exploration with 20 per cent.
The block lies about 350 kilometres north-west of Angola’s capital, Luanda, and the operator estimates its oil reserves at 4.5 billion barrels.