OREANDA-NEWS. Statoil and co-venturer ExxonMobil are pleased to announce their third high impact discovery in Block 2 offshore Tanzania in a year.

The discovery of 4-6 TCF of natural gas in place in the Tangawizi-1 well brings the total in-place volumes up to 15-17 TCF.

"The success in Block 2 is the result of an ambitious and successful drilling campaign. We have so far completed five wells within 15 months and will continue with further wells later this year. Recoverable gas volumes in the range of 10-13 TCF brings further robustness to a future decision on a potential LNG project", says Tim Dodson, executive vice president for Exploration in Statoil.
The Tangawizi-1 discovery was made in sandstone of tertiary age. The new discovery is located 10 kilometres from the Zafarani and Lavani discoveries. It is located in water depth of 2,300 metres and was drilled by the Ocean Rig Poseidon drilling rig.

Statoil and co-venturer ExxonMobil are also working to mature additional prospects in Block 2 and have recently acquired 3D seismic data in areas of Block 2 so far covered only by 2D seismic.

 "I am very satisfied to see how the organisation is able to rapidly follow up on the exploration success both by being able to develop a successful drilling strategy and to plan and complete the drilling operations in a safe and cost-effective manner," says Dodson.

The Tangawizi-1 discovery is the venture's fourth discovery within a year, preceded by two high-impact discoveries with Zafarani-1 and Lavani-1, and a deeper discovery in a separate reservoir with Lavani-2.

The successful drilling results from Block 2 demonstrate how Statoil's strategy of focusing on high-impact opportunities is paying off and supports the company's ambition of international growth.

"The Tanzania government is pleased to learn about additional gas resources discovered in Block 2 and remains optimistic on future developments," says Hon. Prof. Sospeter Muhongo, Minister for Energy and Minerals in Tanzania.

Statoil operates the licence on Block 2 on behalf of Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and has a 65% working interest, with ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited holding the remaining 35%. Statoil has been in Tanzania since 2007, when it was awarded the operatorship for Block 2.