Marubeni reports U.S. Gulf oil find

Major Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp. said Friday its U.S. unit, together with its two partners, have successfully made a deep water oil discovery at the Kodiak prospect well in the Gulf of Mexico.

The exploration well in the Mississippi Canyon Block 771 exploration block, some 95 km southeast of the Louisiana coast, was drilled to a total depth of 9,500 meters and encountered 150 meters of hydrocarbon-bearing sands, Marubeni said.

Marubeni Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. has an 11.25 percent working interest in Kodiak. BP Exploration & Production Inc. owns a 63.75 percent working interest and Eni Petroleum US LLC a 25 percent interest.