Chevron announces seventh significant oil find in Angola's deepwater
Chevron today announced the discovery of the Tombua field, its seventh significant oil find in Angola's prolific deepwater Block 14.
The discovery, drilled last month in 925 feet (282 meters) of water to a depth of 10,535 feet (3,200 meters), tested at a maximum combined flow rate of 10,022 barrels per day of high-quality, 39-degree API gravity crude from two separate zones. The discovery will be followed by geologic and engineering studies to appraise the field and assess its potential reserves.
"Angola's deep water continues to be an attractive asset for Chevron and its partners", said Peter Robertson, president of Chevron Overseas Petroleum Inc. "We have set aggressive production growth targets for West Africa and we are very encouraged by this latest discovery."
The Tombua discovery, which lies approximately 19 miles (31 kilometers) south of the Kuito field, is the latest in a string of exploration successes in Block 14. Tombua follows six earlier discoveries in the highly prospective exploration block including: Kuito (1997), Landana, Benguela and Belize (1998), and most recently Tomboco and Lobito, discovered in 2000. The Kuito field, was Angola's first deepwater discovery and the first and only deepwater field to be brought on to production.
"We are very pleased with the Tombua discovery, and are delighted with our continuing trend of exploration successes in Block 14, which further confirm its tremendous reserves potential," said John Gass, managing director of Chevron's Southern Africa strategic business unit which is headquartered in Angola's capital of Luanda. "We credit much of this success to the talent of our exploration team and to the decisiveness of our partners.
"We intend to continue our approach of quickly moving the Block 14 discoveries into production, a commitment reflected in Chevron's and its partners' investment plans for Angola, which will total more than $6 billion over the next five years," Gass said.
Chevron's Angola-based unit, Cabinda Gulf Oil Co. (CABGOC), is operator of Block 14 and holds a 31-percent interest; Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola (SONANGOL), Agip Angola, and TotalFinaElf-Angola each hold a 20-percent interest. Petrogal holds the remaining 9-percent interest.
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