Murphy Oil has finally found oil with the third of three back-to-back exploration wells in deepwater offshore Côte d’Ivoire.

Bubale-1, drilled by the Transocean Deepwater Skyros, 40 mi from the coast in Block CI-709 and in 7,795 ft (2,376 m) of water, encountered 100 ft (30 m) of net oil pay across two reservoirs, before reaching TD at 20,548 ft (6,263 m).

Initial analysis indicates a good-quality, light crude. In a presentation last month, the company revealed it was targeting a resource in the range 340-850 MMboe.

Murphy President and CEO Eric Hambly said: “We are pleased with the results to date, which underscore the value of a disciplined and consistent exploration approach. Our immediate focus now is advancing evaluation plans to define the discovery’s full potential.”

The company now plans a follow-up well later this year to test the extent of the discovery.

Bubale-1X well was spud in late February by the subsidiary company Murphy CI-709 Oil Co., which operates the block with a 90% interest, the remainder held by state-owned PETROCI.

Murphy’s previous wildcat wells Caracal-1X in offshore Block CI-102, and Civette-1X in Block CI-502, drilled early this year, both encountered non-commercial hydrocarbons.

Last year, the company submitted a field development plan for the Paon oilfield in Block CI-103, north of Bubale, which was discovered by Anadarko.