Exploration group Tullow Oil has found oil at its Paon-1X exploration well off Ivory Coast, extending discoveries made in Ghana.
Drilling encountered 31 metres (102 feet) of net oil in a gross interval of 74 metres of turbidite sands, the company said in a statement today.
Data suggests the well is a continuous hydrocarbon column of light oil, Tullow said.
"The discovery of light oil in our first well in CI-103 extends the proven play for oil westwards from our successes in Ghana and is encouraging for our future exploration efforts elsewhere in this license," exploration director Angus McCoss said.
The company will pursue further drilling in 2013, he said.
Output from Ghana's Jubilee oil field reached about 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day in May, with production expected to reach an average of 90,000 barrels this year, Tullow said at the time.
The explorer has found about 4 billion barrels since 2007, unlocking new oil provinces in Uganda, Ghana and French Guyana.
Tullow controls 45 per cent of the Ivory Coast license, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has a 40 per cent holding and the remainder is held by Petroci Holding.
"This discovery confirms the upper cretaceous fan system present in Ghana extends westward into Cote d'Ivoire and provides significant running room within the CI-103 block," Anadarko Worldwide Exploration vice president Bob Daniels said separately. "We are very encouraged by these results."
Bloomberg
