LONDON, Oct 14: BP announced on Tuesday that it had made an oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, around 70 miles southeast of the American state of Louisiana.

The company said that “appraisal will be required to determine the size and commerciality of the discovery,” made in its Freedom Prospect in around 6,100 feet of water.

It added that the well was drilled to an overall depth of around 29,280 feet, and found “greater than 550 net feet (in depth) of hydrocarbon-bearing sands”.

“The Freedom well is our third discovery in this part of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico following our Tubular Bells and Kodiak discoveries,” said Andy Inglis, chief executive of BP Exploration and Production.—AFP