OSLO, Norway, March 9 (UPI) -- A declaration of discovery was submitted to the government of the Ivory Coast after a test well produced oil and gas, RAK Petroleum said Monday.
The Norwegian energy company said oil and gas was flowing at a test rate of 150 barrels and 25 million cubic feet per day, respectively, from its shallow-water North-1 exploration well off the Ivorian coast.
"A declaration of hydrocarbons discovery has been submitted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and an evaluation and appraisal program will follow," the company said in a statement.
RAK added the reserves were discovered in an area that wasn't known previously to contain hydrocarbons.
The company added that it was on track to develop the nearby Manta gas field off the Ivorian coast under the terms of a $1 billion four-year program.
Reserves off the West African coast are similar to those in Brazil in that many are located beneath a thick layer of submarine salt. Junior explorer African Petroleum in January said a third-party review off offshore Ivory Coast found there may be more oil and gas there than previously expected.
Last year, RAK Petroleum said total gas production from its holdings off the Ivorian coast averaged around 142 million cubic feet per day, about 70 percent of the country's total.
In 2013, French company Total said some of the reserves off the Ivorian coast may be contiguous with those in Ghana, which hosts to the giant Jubilee oil field. Jubilee could eventually produce more than 125,000 barrels of oil per day.
