Marathon Oil Corporation announced that its subsidiary, Marathon International Petroleum Angola Block 31 Limited, has participated in the Leda discovery well in the central northern area of Block 31 offshore Angola. Leda is Marathon's 29th discovery on Angola Blocks 31 and 32.

The Leda discovery well is located approximately 250 miles off the Angolan coast, and is about 7 miles southwest of the Marte field.

The well was drilled in about 6,800 feet of water, to a total depth of more than 19,300 feet. It is the fifth discovery in Block 31 where the exploration well has been drilled through salt to access the oil bearing sandstone reservoir beneath. The well test results confirmed the capacity of the reservoir to flow in excess of 5,000 barrels per day under production conditions.

The concessionaire of Block 31 is Sonangol, Angola's state-owned oil company. Marathon holds a 10 percent interest in Block 31. The operator is BP Exploration (Angola) Limited with 26.67 percent. The other interest owners are Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Block 31) Limited with 25 percent, Sonangol P&P with 20 percent, Statoil Angola A.S. (a subsidiary of StatoilHydro ASA) with 13.33 percent, and TEPA (BLOCK 31) LIMITED, a subsidiary of the Total Group with 5 percent.