Italian oil company Eni has discovered more gas offshore Congo, in the prospect named Nkala Marine.
The discovery, located in the Marine XII block, is expected to have a potential of 250-350 million barrels of oil equivalent in place, Eni said in a statement on Thursday.
During the production test, Eni added, the well provided over 300,000 standard cubic meters per day (sm3d) of gas and associated condensates. The well, drilled in a water depth of 38 meters, encountered a major gas and condensates buildup in the pre-salt clastic geological sequence of lower Cretaceous age, crossing a hydrocarbon column of 240 meters.
Eni will drill more delineation wells in order to further evaluate the size of the discovery.
“Meantime, together with the joint venture partners, the company will start studies for its commercial development which is framed in a context of optimized exploitation of the oil and gas discoveries in the Marine XII permit,” Eni said.
Eni estimates the resources in place of oil and gas discoveries made in the pre-salt Marine XII block so far to be approximately 5.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent (bboe). According to the company, the production of the block, begun last December, is increasing and it currently stands at around 15,000 boe per day.