Questor share tip: Ophir make another discovery This means all four wells drilled off the Tanzania coast have proved a success for the group. Ophir owns 40pc of the discovery and its partner BG Group, which is the operator of the licence, has 60pc interest. The latest discovery means the two groups have discovered 7tcf of gas in the region. Jodari-1 is the first of five wells the company plans to drill this year offshore Tanzania. Ophir now has one of the largest acreage footprints in East Africa of any oil company in the region. As well as the BG Group ventures, it has drilling campaigns with Petrobras and Statoil in Tanzania, with Anadarko and ENI in Mozambique, and with Apache in Kenya. The group has farmed out its West African pre-salt blocks, called Mbeli and Ntsina, to Brazilian oil group Petrobras, the industry's most experienced player in these pre-salt geological formations. It is in similar geological formations in the Santos Basin that Petrobras and BG Group have made major discoveries. Ophir, backed by steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who owns 14pc through his Mittal Investments vehicle, also has assets in West Africa. At the moment Ophir, which is valued at £2bn, has no production. However, the success of its drilling campaign is starting to justify its market value. Last week, the company released its 2011 numbers, which showed a pre-tax loss of $19.1m compared with a loss of $19.3m in 2010. The company had cash balances of $397m at the end of last year. The shares were named as a tip of the year in The Sunday Telegraph at 288.8p on January 1 and they are up 65pc compared with a FTSE 100 up 6pc. The rating remains hold.