Lukoil has completed drilling the first oilwell in the SL-5-11 Block offshore Sierra Leone
The well was drilled to a total depth of more than 4,700 metres. Lukoil said it identified the oil-saturated reservoirs and took oil samples from Turonian sands.
The Russian oil and gas explorer also confirmed the presence of high-quality oil.
Sierra Leone said a full appraisal of the amount of potential oil would be completed by the end of 2014, according to Associated Press.
Lukoil acquired a 49 per cent stake in the block offshore Sierra Leone from Nigerian independent Oranto Petroleum in June 2011.
The Sierra Leone government said it wants the country to begin producing oil by 2017.
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