France's Total discovers oil in Cote d'Ivoire offshore

French oil giant Total on Thursday announced the discovery of oil in Saphir-1XB exploration well in the deep offshore west of Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa. "Drilled in an abrupt margin play, this first well is the first discovery in the San Pedro Basin, a frontier exploration area in Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire). Having confirmed the presence of a petroleum system containing light oil, we will next evaluate this very promising find and focus on its extension to the north and east," said Marc Blaizot, Senior Vice President, Exploration at Total. The offshore, in which Total enjoys 54 percent interest, was located in 2,300 meters of water and drilled to a total depth of 4,655 meters, the group said. In line with "its intensive exploration program in the area," Total planned to drill two wells by the end of 2014. It has already interests in three offshore exploration permits in Ivory Coast.