A new oil deposit dubbed "Ngoma 1" was discovered in the deepwater Block 15/06, about 350 km from the Angolan capital Luanda, Angola's state-owned oil company SONANGOL announced here on Tuesday.

    In a press release issued jointly by the SONANGOL and its partner the ENI oil firm, the miocenic sandstone reservoir containing a 127-meter oil column with high permeability was drilled in a 1,421-meter deepwater layer until a total vertical depth of 3,348 meters.

    The document said the reservoir's discovery, near the Sangos deposits, whose petroleum was tested with a density of 22,5 API degrees, with debits superior to the predictions, confirmed the high mineral potential of Block 15/06, therefore the need to continue with other researches to develop the western part of the Block.

    ENI, a firm to which the Block was entrusted in November 2006, after an international tender, aims at reinforcing its cooperation with SONANGOL since it considers Angola as one of the strategic countries for the future growth of its oil and gas production.

    Angola is the second largest oil producer in the sub-Sahara region with oil production of 1.9 million barrels per day after Nigeria.