Italian giant Eni said Thursday it has made an important new discovery in the Marine XII Block located approximately 17 kilometers offshore Congo.
It drilled exploration well Nene Marine 3 in 28 meters of water and discovered “a significant wet gas and light oil accumulation in the pre-salt clastic sequence outlining a significant extension to the west of the reservoir and its hydraulic continuity,” Eni said in a release.
Nene Marine 3 is located 2 kilometers from the discovery well Nene Marine 1 and 4 kilometers from Nene Marine 2.
During the production test in the oil interval the well flowed over 5,000 barrels of oil per day at 36° API gravity.
Eni estimates that the Nene Marine field contains 1.2 billion barrels of oil and 30 billion cubic meters of gas in place.
The overall potential of the Nene Marine and of the neighboring Litchjendilj Marine fields is estimated in about 2.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in place.
The block also has a significant additional exploration upside which will be determined by the next exploratory and delineation campaign, Eni said.
En holds 65% of the Marine XII Block. New Age holds 25% and the national company SNPC (Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo) holds 10%).
The partners are aiming for rapid commercial development an launch of first oil production from 2016.
Eni has been present in Congo since 1968 and today has an equity production of 105,000 barrels of oil per day in the country.
It has other production in Sub-Saharan Africa in Angola, Ghana, Gabon, Mozambique, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Liberia.
Eni said its current operated production in the region is approximately 450,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
