Chevron discovers oil in Angola

Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil producer, said Thursday that it made a “significant oil discovery” off the coast of the West African country of Angola.

The Malange-1 well produced 7,669 barrels of oil a day in a test in March, the San Ramon, Calif.-based company said. Additional drilling is needed to estimate the discovery’s reserves, it said.

In addition to Angola, Chief Executive David O’Reilly is expanding output in Russia, India and the Gulf of Mexico to compensate for declining oil production from older fields in California and Indonesia, the company’s two largest sources of crude. He set a goal in March to raise oil and gas production by 3% or more a year through 2010.

Malange-1 is the 11th discovery since 1997 on the parcel known as Block 14 and the first from an underground formation called the Pinda, Chevron said.

Chevron has a 31% stake in the Angola well. Partners include units of Angola’s national oil company, France’s Total and Italy’s Eni, each with 20%.

Angola and the rest of Africa accounted for about 19% of the company’s daily oil production in the second quarter, according to Chevron’s website.

Shares of Chevron fell $3.22, or 3.8%, to $81.11 as falling oil prices pared the stocks in Standard & Poor’s index of companies that find, refine and market crude. Chevron’s shares have gained 10% this year.