New offshore discovery in Sierra Leone upgrades Repsol’s resources in Africa

A partnership joined by Repsol announced Tuesday it had made a new hydrocarbons discovery offshore Sierra Leone. The Jupiter-1 well was drilled in an area that already has produced successful results in 2009 and 2010, confirming the significant potential of this region in Africa.

Repsol owns a 25% stake in the consortium, while the operator Anadarko has a 55% participation and Tullow Oil 20%. They drilled the Jupiter-1 well in block SL-07B-11 to a total depth of 6,465 meters (21,212 feet) in 2,199 metres of water. The well encountered net pay of 30 meters. The partners plan to drill an appraisal well, Mercury-2, to evaluate existing resources and to determine their quality.

The Jupiter-1 find follows the discoveries in the area of the Venus B-1 well, drilled in 2009, and the Mercury-1 well, drilled in 2010. This is an area which, until now, has been largely unexplored and which is confirming its importance for the industry.