TotalEnergies EP Congo has made a new hydrocarbon discovery on the Moho license offshore Congo after drilling the MHNM-6 NFW exploration well on the Moho G structure.

The company said the well encountered a hydrocarbon column of about 160 m in good-quality Albian reservoirs. It also carried out an extensive data acquisition and sampling campaign to support subsurface interpretation and future development.

TotalEnergies said the Moho G discovery, together with previous discoveries on the nearby Moho F structure, is planned to be developed as a tie-back to the existing Moho facilities. These discoveries are considered to represent recoverable resources estimated at close to 100 million barrels.

Nicola Mavilla, Senior Vice-President Exploration at TotalEnergies, said the discovery benefits from its proximity to existing production infrastructure, enabling a short-cycle and cost-effective tie-back development. He added that, by using the company’s technical expertise and existing infrastructure, TotalEnergies is creating the conditions for future value-accretive production.

TotalEnergies EP Congo is the operator of the Moho license with a 63.5% interest. Its partners are Trident Energy with 21.5% and Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (SNPC) with 15%.

The existing production facilities include the floating production units Alima and Likouf, which enable current output of around 90 kboe/d on a 100% basis.

Moho is located 80 km off Pointe Noire in deepwater offshore Congo. Production at the field increased significantly in 2017 with the start-up of the Moho Nord project.

The discovery comes days after TotalEnergies completed the merger of its UK North Sea upstream business with NEO NEXT, creating what the company described as the largest independent oil and gas producer in the UK.