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* Firms hope Angola's pre-salt finds to match Brazil's
* Well produces over 3,700 bpd, 16.3 mln cm per day
* Find is fifth by Cobalt in Angola
By Shrikesh Laxmidas
LUANDA, May 1 (Reuters) - U.S. firm Cobalt InternationalEnergy has discovered significant quantities of oiloffshore Angola, state oil firm Sonangol said, calling the findthe biggest so far in the promising pre-salt layer in the KwanzaBasin.
Oil drillers hope discoveries under a deep submerged saltcrust off Angola known as pre-salt may match the prolific findsbeneath similar deposits off Brazil on the other side of theAtlantic in recent years.
Analysts say Angola, Africa's No. 2 oil producer, coulddouble its oil reserves, which are currently estimated at justunder 13 billion barrels, if pre-salt drilling provessuccessful.
Drilling at Cobalt's Orca-1 well in Block 20/11 reached adepth of 3,872 metres and has successfully produced over 3,700barrels of oil and 16.3 million cubic metres of gas per day,Sonangol said in a statement on Thursday.
"The results ... confirm the importance of the find, whichis considered the biggest to date in the Kwanza basin," itadded.
Cobalt estimates the well may hold between 400 million and700 million barrels of oil.
Operator Cobalt, which counts Goldman Sachs Group andprivate equity firms Riverstone and First Reserve as investors,holds a 40 percent stake in block 20/11. Sonangol and BP own 30 percent each.
Cobalt said in a separate statement that the find was itsfifth off Angola and followed one in the Lontra well inNovember, which it said at the time was "a discovery on a globalscale".
The company also said it had started drilling the Cameia-3well in the Cameia field in Angola's pre-salt offshore Block 21.
Analysts say 2014 will be a crucial year of exploration andtesting in Angola's pre-salt play, with up to 15 wells set to bedrilled. (Reporting by Shrikesh Laxmidas; editing by Jane Baird)
