UPDATE 2-Total reports Gabon offshore gas discovery

* Gas struck in Gabon's pre-salt layer * Discovery set to galvanise interest in regionBy Emma FargeGENEVA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - 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 on Monday.It did not comment on the scale of the find, adding that it was still analysing the data.Marathon Oil Corp and Cobalt International Energy are also partners in the Diaba licence, where the gas was found. Gabon's government owns a 15 percent stake.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 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.But Kelly added that gas condensate could take more time to develop than conventional oil."There are more commercial challenges to overcome with gas than with oil," he said.Gabon, which produces around 240,000 barrels per day of oil, is planning a licensing round for offshore oil and gas blocks later this year, according to a document sent to the World Trade Organization.Production in the former OPEC member has been declining and has fallen by around a third from a peak in the late 1990s.

This article is taken from Reuters.com