Eni has made a ninth oil discovery in deepwater Block 15/06 offshore Angola, increasing the resource base of its planned West Hub project.

The discovery was made with the Vandumbu 1 well, located approximately 150 km offshore. The well was drilled in a water depth of 976 m (3,202 ft) and reached a total depth of 4,107 m (13,475 ft).

Additional sidetrack drilling has been carried out, with the Vandumbu 1 ST well reaching a depth of 3,480 m (11,418 ft), finding net oil (34° API) pay of 114 m (374 ft), contained in Lower Miocene high quality sands.

The Italian operator estimates that Vandumbu 1 ST has a production capacity in excess of 5,000 b/d of oil.

Eni operates Block 15/06 with a 35% stake, with its partners being SSI Fifteen Ltd. (25%), Sonangol (15%), Total (15%), Falcon Oil Holding Angola SA (5%) and Statoil Angola Block 15/06 (5%).