ENI makes significant discovery offshore Congo

ENI makes significant discovery offshore Congo

MILAN, Italy -- ENI has made an important oil discovery in the Minsala Marine exploration prospect, located in the Marine XII Block, offshore Congo, 35 km from the shoreline and 12 km from the recent Nené Marine discovery.

The discovery was made through the Minsala Marine 1 well, which was drilled in 75 m of water and reached a total depth of 3,700 m.

The well encountered a significant accumulation of light oil in the Lower Cretaceous age pre-salt sequence, passing through a hydrocarbon column of  420 m. ENI's preliminary estimate is that the Minsala Marine discovery could contain about 1 Bboe in place, of which 80% oil.

Claudio Descalzi, CEO of ENI, commented, "We have already discovered about 4 Bboe in place, between Congo and Gabon. In Congo, this is the third discovery to be successfully drilled in the Marine XII permit pre-salt play following the Litchjendily and Nene Marine discoveries, which are both already under development. These discoveries are located in conventional waters near existing infrastructure and can therefore be brought into production in very competitive time to market and cost."

ENI has already planned the appraisal plan for the discovery as well as started studies for its commercial development.

ENI, through its own subsidiary ENI Congo SA, is operator of Marine XII with a 65% share stake.