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Shell has made a significant oil and gas discovery at an closely-watched offshore well in Namibia which could spark a wave of investment in the southern African country, three industry sources said.

Namibia is not a fossil fuel producer, although northern neighbour Angola is a major oil and gas producer and a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

It’s unclear if the discoveries are big enough for Shell to go ahead with the development of the country’s first deep water field, the sources said.

The Namibian government is planning to make an announcement next week on the details of the discovery at the Graff-1 well which Shell started drilling last month, according to two of the sources.

The well results have so far shown at least two reservoirs containing what one of the sources described as a significant amount of oil and gas.

According to a second source, the drilling results have shown one layer at least 60 metres deep of hydrocarbons, holding an estimated 250 to 300 million barrels of oil and gas equivalent. Shell holds a 45 percent stake in the offshore Petroleum Exploration License 39 (PEL 39) with a 45 percent interest held by Qatar Petroleum and a 10 percent held by the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia. —  Reuters.