Dana Petroleum’s Manatee-1 well in the Niger Delta basin offshore Cameroon has discovered gas, according to partner SDX Energy.

The jackup Paragon M825 drilled the shallow-water well, which reached TD of 1,447 m (4,747 ft) this weekend. It intersected 26 m (85 ft) of gas-bearing section of varying quality throughout the wellbore.

Wellbore conditions did not allow acquisition of a full suite of logging tools in the deeper sections of the hole, so analysis of these lower intervals is presently inconclusive.

The partners plan further technical work involving analysis of collected samples and material.

SDX CEO Paul Welch said: “Whilst we are disappointed not to have made an oil discovery, we recognized the risks associated with exploration wells of this kind. The secondary objective was to see whether we could make a commercially viable gas discovery…

“Positively, the block contains a further 12 prospects and leads which have been significantly de-risked by the Manatee-1 well results. We will use the information obtained from this well to improve our understanding of the Bakassi West block so that we can sit down with our partners and the relevant authorities to discuss the next steps.”