Oil major Total makes significant discovery offshore South Africa

By Bate Felix

PARIS (Reuters) - French oil and gas major Total said it had made a significant gas condensate discovery after drilling its Brulpadda prospects on Block 11B/12B in the Outeniqua Basin, offshore South Africa.

Total said the Brulpadda well encountered 57 meters of net gas condensate pay in Lower Cretaceous reservoirs. The well was deepened to a final depth of 3,633 meters and has also been successful.

"With this discovery, Total has opened a new world-class gas and oil play and is well positioned to test several follow-on prospects on the same block," Total's senior vice president for exploration Kevin McLachlan said in a statement.

Brulpadda is one of several highly anticipated exploration prospects for the year. Total has said the field could hold between 500 million to over 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

Following the success of Brulpadda and confirmation of its potential, Total and its partners plan to acquire 3D seismic this year, followed by up to four exploration wells on the license, the company said.

Total has a 45 percent working interest and is the operator of the Block 11B/12B which covers an area of 19,000 square kilometres. Other partners include Qatar Petroleum with a 25 percent stake, CNR International holds 20 percent and Main Street, a South African consortium 10 percent.

(Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)