Total says makes ‘very promising’ oil find off Ivory Coast

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PARIS — French energy giant Total on Thursday announced it had discovered oil in deep waters off the coast of Ivory Coast, constituting a “very promising result” after the first such find.

“The exploratory well Saphir-1XB…, operated by Total, has proved the existence of liquid hydrocarbons deep offshore, to the west of Ivory Coast,” the group said in a statement.

Total’s search for oil in Atlantic waters off the west African nation has for the first time brought to light “an efficient petroleum system with light crude oil” in the San Pedro basin, said Marc Blaizot, Exploration director for the group.

The find, with high quality fuel potential, lies in a different part of the ocean from the first one made in 2013 in waters bordering with Ghana, where several large tracts of oil have already been found, including the giant Jubilee field.

“We are now going to evaluate this very promising result and concentrate on the extension (of research) to the north and east,” said Blaizot.

Total said the latest find could concern a separate oil deposit from previous ones.

Total is highly active in the international scramble to find fresh oil and gas deposits in a range of countries across Africa and on other continents.

The French group holds 54 percent of the licence to prospect in the CI-154 bloc where the latest discovery took place. The Canadian company CNR International holds 36 percent, while the Ivorian national firm Petroci holds the remaining 10 percent.