By Tom Burgis, www.ft.com
On the morning of Friday February 10, the oil world was abuzz. Cobalt International Energy, a midsized explorer backed by Goldman Sachs, had announced what was potentially one of the biggest discoveries of recent years.
The find in Angola’s Kwanza basin was a “game changer”, in the words of one veteran oilman. Cobalt’s well, drilled to a depth of 4.9km through a thick layer of salt, had found a reservoir the Texan explorer estimates to contain 1.5bn barrels of crude.
It confirmed a new energy frontier. If the so-called “pre-salt” region proves as rich as early indications suggest, it would set Angola on course to join the big league oil producers over the coming decade. Read the rest of this entry »
