Tullow Oil’s latest probe offshore Mauritania has proven up a new oil play, it reports in its latest interim statement.

The company said the Frégate-1 well drilled in the C-7 licence area with the Stena Drill Max drillship established a new deepwater Late Cretaceous turbidite play-type. Spudded on February 1, this was the first well in Tullow’s Mauritanian exploration program.

However the company added that the subsequent Tapendar-1 well in Block C-10 was plugged and abandoned after failing to hit hydrocarbons. Well data will be evaluated prior to a decision on the location and timing of future wells in the program.