French oil major Total said it had discovered gas condensate in deep waters off the coast of Gabon, raising hopes for other explorers in the region.

The discovery, made in a layer of the ocean bed referred to as pre-salt, follows other regional finds in Ghana and Ivory Coast, where Total struck oil earlier this year.

“Situated at more than 100 kilometres from the Gabonese coast, this exploration work revealed an accumulation of gas condensate,” Total Gabon said.

It did not comment on the scale of the find, adding that it was still analysing the data.

“(Marathon) was targeting oil, so the discovery of natural gas and condensate is disappointing,” Simmons & Co analyst Travis Frazier said.

Pre-salt exploration in west Africa, which involves expensive drilling thousands of feet below the ocean surface, is at an early stage of development relative to fields in Brazil.

Martin Kelly, lead analyst for sub-Saharan Africa upstream research at Wood Mackenzie, said the find was likely to attract more investment in the region.

“This discovery is good news (for Gabon) as it de-risks the pre-salt play. Companies will be interested in this, especially after Angola’s success in deep water,” he said.

Angola is also seen as having large pre-salt potential due to its similarities with the geology of Brazil.