Afren finds oil as drilling completes in Madagascar

Afren drilled four locations on the block, which measures 11,200km squared, and encountered “hydrocarbon shows” in two of the holes.

“Cores recovered from both locations indicated the presence of hydrocarbons and potentially good reservoir quality over multiple zones,” the company said.

Early analysis also showed at least three different source rocks across the block in the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous zones. Detailed analysis will take place early next year.

"We have made good progress on Block 1101 with encouraging results indicating the presence of oil over several zones,” said interim boss Toby Hayward.

“This underscores the high quality of our East African portfolio and we look forward to working with our partner (Oyster Oil and Gas Limited) to determine the nature and extent of the discovery."

Afren’s shares were up 0.3% at 33p by 08:16, but have fallen by over 80% since the start of 2014 on the back of the collapse in oil prices.