Angola’s Sonangol makes its first solo oil discovery

LUANDA – Angola’s state oil company Sonangol has discovered oil at its offshore block 4, the first well it has ever drilled without foreign partners, industry sources and state media said on Monday.

“This is great news for Sonangol because it’s the first time they have done it entirely on their own. They carried out all the studies and all the preliminary work and the drilling,” a senior industry expert told Reuters.”Everyone was worried that they might not find oil but they have,” the source added.The discovery is situated in 711 metres of water in the western part of Block 4, for which no commercial concession is currently in force, although the oil ministry granted Sonangol permission to drill on the block.The state Jornal de Angola reported yesterday that drilling had revealed two reservoirs that Sonangol believed could be commercially viable.The firm would analyse the field’s prospects and was already negotiating a new oil concession for its development, the paper added.Sonangol was not immediately available for comment.Industry sources said the discovery had yielded heavy oil and that it was unlikely to be commercially viable on its own but added that it could be tied up with future discoveries.”Near this discovery there is another prospect that Sonangol will try to drill next year,” one senior source told Reuters.”If they also find oil there, the two perhaps can be put on development together,” the source said, adding that conservative estimates put total reserves on the new discovery at around 50 million barrels.Angola is sub-saharan Africa’s second largest oil-producer after Nigeria, churning out around one million barrels per day – a figure that is slated to double by 2008.-Nampa-ReutersThey carried out all the studies and all the preliminary work and the drilling,” a senior industry expert told Reuters.”Everyone was worried that they might not find oil but they have,” the source added.The discovery is situated in 711 metres of water in the western part of Block 4, for which no commercial concession is currently in force, although the oil ministry granted Sonangol permission to drill on the block.The state Jornal de Angola reported yesterday that drilling had revealed two reservoirs that Sonangol believed could be commercially viable.The firm would analyse the field’s prospects and was already negotiating a new oil concession for its development, the paper added.Sonangol was not immediately available for comment.Industry sources said the discovery had yielded heavy oil and that it was unlikely to be commercially viable on its own but added that it could be tied up with future discoveries.”Near this discovery there is another prospect that Sonangol will try to drill next year,” one senior source told Reuters.”If they also find oil there, the two perhaps can be put on development together,” the source said, adding that conservative estimates put total reserves on the new discovery at around 50 million barrels.Angola is sub-saharan Africa’s second largest oil-producer after Nigeria, churning out around one million barrels per day – a figure that is slated to double by 2008.-Nampa-Reuters