18th April, 2014
French oil giant Total on Thursday announced the discovery of oil in Saphir-1XB exploration well in the deep offshore west of Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa.
“Drilled in an abrupt margin play, this first well is the first discovery in the San Pedro Basin, a frontier exploration area in Cote d’Ivoire.
“ Having confirmed the presence of a petroleum system containing light oil, we will next evaluate this very promising find and focus on its extension to the North and East,’’ Marc Blaizot, Senior Vice President, Exploration at Total stated.
The group said that the offshore in which Total enjoyed 54 per cent interest, was located in 2,300 metres of water and drilled to a total depth of 4,655 metres.
In line with its intensive exploration programme in the area, Total planned to drill two wells by the end of 2014.
It has already interests in three offshore exploration permits in Ivory Coast.