Eni on Friday announced it had made its ninth oil discovery in Block 15/06, in deep water offshore Angola, increasing the resource base of the West Hub project. The discovery was made through the Vandumbu 1 well, located approximately 150 kilometers from the coast. The well was drilled at a water depth of 976 meters and reached a total depth of 4,107 meters.
Additional drilling has been carried out from the Vandumbu 1 well in different direction (side track), Vandumbu 1 ST, that reached a depth of 3,480 meters, finding a net oil (34° API) pay of 114 meters, contained in Lower Miocene high quality sand. As suggested by data acquired, Eni estimates that Vandumbu 1 ST has a production capacity in excess of 5,000 barrel of oil per day.
Eni is operator of Block 15/06 with 35%. The other partners of the joint venture are SSI Fifteen Limited (25%), Sonangol (15%), Total (15%), Falcon Oil Holding Angola SA (5%) and Statoil Angola Block 15/06 (5%). This discovery confirms Angola as one of the core countries in Eni’s organic growth strategy. Eni has been present in the country since 1980 with a net production of 102,000 barrels per day in 2011.