The new Dalia field (the Dahlia flower in Portuguese) lies alongside last year's elephant discovery Girassol. Elf estimates potential recoverable reserves in this large block could be between 4 billion and 5 billion barrels of oil. The company likens the acreage to Brazil's Campos basin. Production testing on Dalia confirmed a highly productive reservoir with flow-rates surpassing expectations. This and clear mapping which shows the oil-bearing Miocene sands stretching out over a very large area give Elf and its partners the confidence to say it is probably significantly bigger than Girassol.
Dalia find puts Africa in bloomGiant discovery pushes Angola waters to the top of wish-list for explorers
A SECOND giant oil discovery by Elf Aquitaine on block 17 off Angola has prompted comparisons with prolific Brazilian waters. The find, first revealed by Upstream last week, confirms deep-water west Africa as one of the world's hottest oil exploration provinces.
23 August 1997 0:00 GMT
Updated
23 August 1997 0:00 GMT