Four in a row for oil discoveries in Niger

Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The latest confirmed oil discovery in a basin in southeast Niger makes it four in a row for Savannah Petroleum's exploration campaign, the company stated.

The company ran through a 45-foot column of oil at its Eridal-1 exploration well, making it the fourth discovery in a row in the Agadem Rift basin in southeastern Niger.

Production tests are ongoing, but the company said it wasn't providing a full reserve estimate until results are completed and evaluated.

CEO Andrew Knott said in a statement that the latest discovery adds to Savannah's "meaningful" oil potential in the Agadem Rift basin.

Savannah, a British company with a core focus on Niger and Nigeria, has two production sharing contracts in Niger and found the area to be relatively underexplored, though Chinese companies have posted successes in drilling operations in the past.

After completing its third well in a drilling campaign in June, the company said it estimated the unrisked recoverable reserves at its Kunama prospect in the broader basin at 35 million barrels.

The company has a memorandum of understanding with the governments of Niger and Nigeria to examine construction of a pipeline that could carry oil out of Niger to export terminals.

Pipeline construction though Nigeria could contain an element of risk given security concerns in the nation's southern coastal states.

Nigeria is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Secondary sources reporting to OPEC economists put Nigeria oil production at an average of 1.7 million barrels per day, down about 6 percent from the average for the first quarter of 2018.