London-listed Mediterranean Oil & Gas is recording “signficant oil shows” at its wholly owned Ombrino Mare 2 appraisal well offshore Italy, and the news has sent the stock up nine percent.

With drilling going smoothly, logs also confirmed gas in Pliocene-era sandstone. The drill bit was inside the target reservoir, some 2,000 metres below the seabed.

A Mediterranean communique chronicled the rest: There are continuous oil shows on cuttings and on the shale shakers and associated drilling … These significant oil shows are also associated with good yellow fluorescence.

The original No. 1 discovery well produced 400 barrels per day. No. 2 is just 1 kilometre east.

The Ombrina Mare oil discovery is estimated to hold 19.5 million bbls of net net contingent resources, with 89 MM bbls in place.