Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) said Tuesday that it encountered a significant amount of natural gas at an appraisal well offshore Mozambique , helping confirm the value of previous discoveries.

The Lagosta-2 appraisal well is Anadarko's seventh successful well in the area and is about 4.4 miles north of its Lagosta discovery. The well encountered the "largest pay count of any well" in the area to date, said Bob Daniels, Anadarko's senior vice president for worldwide exploration.

The discovery reaffirms the company's estimates that Mozambique 's Offshore Area 1 could contain 15 trillion to 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the executive said.

Analysts with Tudor Pickering said that the announcement is "incremental positive information on a basin that keeps getting better."

The success could help boost plans for a liquefied natural gas export facility in eastern Africa ; Anadarko is targeting a final investment decision on an LNG plant there for 2013.

Tudor Pickering analysts say they estimate that the area contains about 22 trillion cubic feet of gross reserves and could sustain five LNG trains.

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