Petronas has made a new oil and gas discovery from its Boudji-1 exploration well in Block F14 (Likuale), located in South Gabon, the company said March 7.

The ultradeepwater exploration well, drilled in water depths of 9186 ft (2,800 m), encountered 295 ft (90 m) of gross high quality hydrocarbon-bearing pre-salt sands.

The discovery, made by Petronas’s subsidiary PC Gabon Upstream S.A. (PCGUSA), marks a significant milestone for Petronas as it expands upstream growth in West Africa, demonstrating its frontier exploration and deepwater operational capabilities.

“The discovery in Gabon is an encouraging development for Petronas, as we continue to pursue growth activities beyond Malaysia, in line with the strategy to expand our core oil and gas business by growing our resource base,” Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib, Petronas’ executive vice president & upstream CEO, said.

“Aside from boosting Gabon’s oil and gas industry, this discovery will also spur further growth activities in the region, and complements our achievements towards building a significant deepwater portfolio globally,” he added.

Petronas, together with the Ministry of Petroleum & Hydrocarbons in Gabon, will conduct an assessment to further determine the commerciality of the resource volume.

PCGUSA is the operator for Block F14 (Likuale), with Australia’s Woodside holding a 30% participating interest.

To-date, Petronas’ deepwater portfolio includes partnerships in the Gumusut-Kakap, Malikai and Kikeh deepwater fields located offshore Sabah. Additionally, there are two new upcoming deepwater development projects in the portfolio—the Limbayong Field in Sabah and the Kelidang Cluster in Brunei.

Petronas’ global upstream reach continues to expand to Mexico with the winning of six deepwater blocks in bidding round 2.4, positioning Petronas as the second largest gross acreage holder in offshore Mexico with a total of nine blocks.

Further strengthening the company’s presence in West Africa, Petronas has recently signed a farm-out agreement with Australia’ FAR Ltd. for a 40% interest in the offshore petroleum licenses of Blocks A2 and A5 located offshore Gambia.