Oil has been discovered at an exploration well off the coast of Sierra Leone in which Irish firm Tullow Oil has a 10 per cent stake.
Drilling at the offshore Mercury-1 well encountered 135 net feet of oil pay in two Cretaceous-age fan systems, the Woodlands, Anadarko Petroleum Corp this morning. Anadarko is the majority owner of the well.
The well, drilled at a depth of about 15,950 feet (4,860 meters) in about 5,250 feet of water, is Anadarko's second deepwater test in the Sierra Leone-Liberian basin.
"These results continue to build momentum in the basin and enhance our confidence," Anadarko Exploration Vice President Bob Daniels said in the statement.
The well-bore will be maintained for potential re-entry and testing in the future, the explorer said.
The Mercury well is located in the SL-07B-10 block about 40 miles south of Anadarko's Venus discovery.
The block is operated and 65 per cent owned by Anadarko, which controls 4.6 million acres on five deepwater blocks off the coast of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Anadarko was the US-based partner in BP Plc's damaged Gulf of Mexico well.
Additional reporting- Bloomberg