Results from a production test from a well off the coast of the Republic of Congo exceeded expectations by a wide margin, SOCO International said Tuesday.

SOCO, which has headquarters in London, serves as the operator of the so-called Marine XI block off the western Congolese coast. In a statement, the company said its exploration well in the area "significantly exceeded" its expectations by producing at a rate of 5,174 barrels of oil per day and 3.65 million cubic feet of gas per day during testing.

SOCO's announcement comes one week after Italian energy company Eni said it made a significant oil discovery at a basin off the western coast of Congo.

In the Minsala Marine shallow-water prospect, the company said it found about 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent, of which 80 percent exists as oil.

The prospects were enough to start preparations for commercial development of the well, Eni said.

Reserves off the West African coast are similar to those in Brazil in that they're located beneath a thick layer of submarine salt. Eni said it's already discovered about 4 billion barrels of oil in basins off the Congolese and Gabonese coasts since it started work there more than four years ago.

SOCO outlined no further plans other than to say it was analyzing well data to see if the latest results were continuous with other reserve basins in the area.