French energy company Total said Thursday it made an oil discovery while drilling in the deep waters offshore Ivory Coast.

Mark Blaizot, a senior vice president in charge of exploration for the French company, said the discovery was made in the San Pedro basin, a frontier exploration area off the Ivorian coast.

"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," he said in a statement.

The drilling site was in 7,500 feet of water. Total said it encountered an oil layer that measured 131 feet thick.

The company said it would take the data from the well, Saphir-1XB, and analyze it to determine the reserve potential in the area. Total said it was pursuing an "intensive exploration program" off the Ivorian coast.

Total last year said it encountered about 91 feet of net oil pay while drilling in Ivorian waters. The company said the well confirmed an extension of reserves in the Tano basin, which hosts the giant Jubilee field in Ghana.

Technip latest to join Total offshore Angola
Paris (UPI) Apr 18, 2013 –

French energy services contractor Technip said Friday one of its subsidiaries landed a construction deal to help Total with its Kaombo oil project in Angola.

Technip said it would start immediately with construction of umbilicals — hoses and tubes used to support electrical cables and fiber optics for offshore platforms — for Total's offshore oil project.

The French contractor said the project is one of the largest of its kind to be launched from a manufacturing facility in Lobito, Angola.

No value was given for the lump-sum contract from Total.

The French supermajor this week said it was investing $16 billion to develop Kaombo.

On Wednesday, Total awarded Italian oil services group Saipem more than $4 billion in contracts for the development of two Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading units associated with the offshore oil field.

Kaombo has an estimated 650 million barrels of reserves and should produce 230,000 bpd for Angola once operations begin in 2017.