OilVoice - Total Announces Second Oil Discovery on Deep Offshore Block 17/06, Angola

Total Announces Second Oil Discovery on Deep Offshore Block 17/06, Angola

Thursday, April 01, 2010

Total announces that its subsidiary, TEPA (Block 17/06) Limited, and Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola (Sonangol E.P.), have discovered hydrocarbons in the north-eastern area of the deep offshore block 17/06.

The Begonia-1 well is the second successful exploration well on Block 17/06, after the Gardenia-1 well. Drilled in a water depth of 453 meters, the well discovered hydrocarbons in reservoir of Miocene age and produced more than 6,000 barrels per day of high quality oil (36° API) during a production test.

Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola (Sonangol) is the concessionaire of the Block 17/06. TEPA (Block 17/06) Limited is the operator of the Block 17/06 with a 30% stake. Total's partners in the block are Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção S.A. (30%), Sonangol Sinopec International (SSI) Seventeen Limited (27.5%), ACREP Bloco 17 S.A. (5%), Falcon Oil Holding Angola S.A. (5%) and PARTEX Oil and Gas (Holdings) Corporation (2.5%).

Total Exploration & Production in Angola
Total is present in Angola since 1953. In Angola, Total operated 491,000 barrels oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in 2009, and its SEC* equity production amounted approximately 191,000 boe/d. This production comes essentially from Blocks 17,0 and 14.

Deep offshore Block 17, operated by Total with a 40% interest, is Total's principal asset in Angola. It is composed of four major zones: Girassol-Rosa and Dalia, which are currently producing; Pazflor, a project under development for a production start in 2011; and CLOV (based on the Cravo, Lirio, Orquidea and Violeta discoveries), a project for which the final investment decision should be taken soon.

Total is also the operator with a 30% stake in the ultra deep offshore Block 32, on which 12 discoveries were made, confirming the oil potential of the block. Pre-development studies for a first production zone in the central south eastern portion of the block are underway.

In addition, the Angola LNG project for the construction of a liquefaction plant near Soyo is designed to bring the country's natural gas reserves to market. This project, on which Total holds a 13.6% stake, will be supplied by the associated gas from the fields on Blocks 0, 14, 15, 17 and 18. The project is underway with production expected to begin in 2012.

*SEC: Security Exchange Commission of the United States