The hugely celebrated discovery of oil by the Venus B1 well, drilled by Anardako is a first in Sierra Leonean waters. But it is a pancake thin discovery considering the water depth and the total footage.
A 50feet Net hydrocarbon pay (Anardako has not disclosed how much of it is oil) in an 18,500 feet well is far from what’s considered commercial threshold, in a sequence that’s 5,900 feet(or 1,800metres) under water.
What Anardako is celebrating is three fold: 1)the fact of a valid hydrocarbon generating engine in the under explored Sierra Leone-Liberian Basin
2)The evidence(even if scratchy) of an oil soaked sand fairway from deepwater  Ghana in the east to Sierra Leone in the west. Anardako, we must remember, discovered deepwater Ghana, with its Jubilee find in 2007 and 
3)The fact that the cretaceous transform margin, which Vanco has been alluding to since the late 90s, seems to be working.
“With Jubilee on the east and Venus on the west, we have established bookends spanning approximately 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) across two of the most exciting and highly prospective basins in the world”, says Bob Daniels, Anadarko Sr. Vice President, Worldwide Exploration. “The Venus discovery confirms the existence of an active petroleum system in the basin and enhances the prospectivity of our vast West Africa acreage position,” Daniels reported. Tullow Oil, which also has interests in Venus, had said even before the drilling, that “A petroleum system proven at Venus would de-risk numerous similar prospects in-between”
The partners are evaluating the initial results of the well and the forward plan for the prospect, and anticipate additional drilling in the area. We are optimistic that the continued success of our West African Cretaceous program will create substantial value for our stakeholders as well as the people of West Africa through continued investment and increased activity. Anadarko plans to drill two to five wells in the trend next year.” The Venus prospect is one of Anadarko’s more than 30 identified prospects .......check details here