Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) said Wednesday that it had found a new deepwater oil discovery in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The independent Houston oil and gas producer said that the Vito exploration well, in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf, encountered 250 net feet of oil pay. Senior Vice President for Exploration, Bob Daniels, said in a statement that Anadarko planned to drill two additional prospects in the same area, as well as evaluate the timing for an appraisal well to further explore the size of the Vito find.

The Vito well was drilled at a depth of 32,000 feet in more than 4,000 feet of water. Anadarko owns 20% of the prospect and acts as the operator. A Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) unit owns 55% and a unit of Norwegian oil firm StatoilHydro (STO) owns a 25% stake. Shell will become the operator once the rig currently drilling the well is moved to Anadarko's Caesar/Tonga development in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Anadarko shares closed down 2.32%, at $46.30, but gained nine cents in after-market trading.

-By Angel Gonzalez, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9214;angel.gonzalez@dowjones.com

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