Large gas find off Tanzania

Norwegian oil group Statoil Monday announced a large natural gas find with US partner ExxonMobil off Tanzania's coast, the third major discovery in a year by the two companies in the country. The Tangawizi-1 well contained between 712 million and 1.07 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), bringing the total reserves of the block in question to between 2.67 and 3.03 billion boe, the Oslo-based company said in a statement. It was located at a depth of 2,300 metres, 10 kilometres from the previous Zafarani and Lavani discoveries, which the company believes could hold recoverable reserves of up to 2.32 billion boe. Statoil is the operator of the block on behalf of the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation and has a 65 percent stake in the license, with the remaining 35 percent held by ExxonMobil.