Australian oil and gas firm Invictus Energy announced it has found light oil, gas and helium in remote northeastern Zimbabwe, a culmination of months of exploration.
Analysis of samples from its remote sites near the border with Mozambique confirmed the presence of light oil, gas condensate and helium, it said in a statement.
Invictus added that the result definitively proves the presence of hydrocarbons in multiple reservoir pay zones at one of the wells.
It said analysed samples “demonstrate a consistent, high-quality natural gas composition, exhibiting low inert content, containing less than” one per cent carbon dioxide.
The discovery comes 30 years after US giant ExxonMobil gave up its quest to secure crude oil in the area.
The find could lead to Zimbabwe’s first gas production and help improve power supplies in a country plagued by dire electricity shortages of up to 19 hours a day.
