Italy's Eni reported good results in its first appraisal well of the Agogo discovery in Block 15/06, offshore Angola.

The Agogo-2 well results confirm 650 million barrels of oil in place at the Agogo field and indicate further upside in its northern sector that will be assessed with new appraisal wells, the company said on Thursday.

The well was drilled by the Ocean Rig Poseidon drillship, 3 kilometers north-west of the Agogo-1 discovery well, approximately 180 kilometers from the coast and 23 kilometers from the N’Goma West Hub floating production and storage facility (FPSO). The well was drilled in 1,700 meters water depth and reached a total depth of 3,949 meters.

Eni said Agogo-2 encountered 58 meters net of light oil (31° API), in sandstones of Miocene and Oligocene age with excellent petro-physical characteristics. The result confirms the extension of the Agogo reservoir to the north of the discovery well and below the salt diapirs. The well has been planned and drilled as a highly deviated one, to reach the sequences below the salt diapirs and prove the existence of reservoir and oil charge also in this sector of the Agogo megastructure. Data acquired in Agogo-2 indicate a production capacity in excess of 15.000 barrels of oil per day.

Eni is operator of Block 15/06 with a 36.8421% stake. Its partners are Sonangol P&P which has 36.8421% and SSI Fifteen Limited who holds the remaining 26.3158%.

Eni said it plans to start first production from Agogo before the end of 2019 with a subsea tieback to the N’Goma FPSO.

Meanwhile, the Italian supermajor will continue the appraisal campaign to assess the discovery’s full potential and size its development.

Eni’s equity production in Angola currently stands at about 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. In Block 15/06 Eni operates two development projects, West Hub and East Hub, which currently produce about 155,000 B/D of oil. Eni is also operator of Cabinda Norte Block, located onshore Angola.