American oil company Anadarko has discovered offshore oil deposits in northern Mozambique, but it is unclear if the find will prove commercially viable, a company spokesman said.

Anadarko spokesman Johan Christiansen said the initial find “does not appear to be commercially viable”, but said it may lead to exploitable reserves later.

“It does show the presence of oil in the region,” Christiansen told AFP. “We are excited to explore other wells in the area.”

Anadarko is exploring more than 50 other locations spanning 2.6 million hectares in the Indian Ocean’s Rovuma basin, off the southern African country’s coast.

News of the discovery, in wells at a depth of about 5,100 metres reverberated through Mozambique on Tuesday, but President Armando Guebuza tried to tone down excitement, state news agency AIM reported.

“The first thing I would like to say is to advise people to remain calm until we have more information on the discovery,” Guebuza said from the margins of a regional summit in Namibia.

Mozambique, one of the world’s poorest countries, is experiencing a commodities boom, with international companies racing to exploit a range of minerals and metals, notably the largest untapped coal reserves in the world, estimated at 15 billion tonnes.