Eni has announced the discovery of gas and condensates in the Nyonie Deep exploration prospect, located 13km offshore Gabon
The discovery was made in Block D4, nearly 50km from Libreville, Eni said. Preliminary estimates have suggested that nearly 500mn barrels of oil equivalent can be extracted in the initial stages of exploration.
Eni revealed that the Nyonie Deep exploration was made in the pre-salt area of Gabon through the NFW Nyonie Deep-1 well, drilled in water depth of 28 metres and reaching a total depth of 4,314 metres. The discovery is reportedly an outcome of Eni’s exploration campaign being carried out in the pre-salt plays of West Africa.
An appraisal campaign to assess the potential of the discovery is expected to follow shortly. Eni offiials said that they would begin studies for the potential commercial exploitation of the oilfield.
This is the third field to be discovered in shallow waters, after the Nene Marine and Litchendjili Marine fields in DR Congo. The total estimated potential of the discoveries is nearly three billion barrels of oil equivalent, the Italian firm added.
Eni has operated in Gabon through its affiliate Eni Gabon since 2009 and currently has exploration activities in four exploration licenses — two offshore (D3 and D4) and two onshore (E2 and F3).
