Namibia is involved in another oil exploration project and the oil is discovered by Shell, Qatar Energy, and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor).
It is reported in South West Africa that the exploration is taking place between Windhoek and Mariental which has a distance of approximately 270 kilometres.
The three bodies are in a joint venture, Shell Namibia B.V has 45%, Qatar Energy has 45% and Namcor boasts 10%, as the trio is exploring oil on their PEL0039.
According to the Namibian, the three entities discovered light oil was made in the Jonker-1X deep-water exploration well and the well was drilled in Block 2913A and 2914B, following drilling operations which commenced in December 2022 and completed safely early in March.
The Jonker-1X discovery is the third well drilled on the licence held by Shell within a year, and while the acquired data is reportedly being evaluated, further appraisal drilling is planned to determine the size and recoverable resources potential of the discovery.
Commenting on the discovery, Namcor managing director Immanuel Mulunga said the “discovery has proven the exciting and world-class potential of the deep-water Orange Basin.”
It is not yet clear whether the discovery is commercial, but Namcor’s executive for upstream exploration, Victoria Sibeya, said the company is looking forward to the appraisal activities and its collaborative relationship with the joint venture partners and the Namibian government as a shareholder, to fully assess the commercial potential of this major oil discovery.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Qatar minister of state for energy affairs and the president and chief executive of QatarEnergy, said he was pleased with the encouraging discovery, which is Namibia’s third.
“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our partners Shell and Namcor, and to congratulate and thank the Government of the Republic of Namibia, which has been very supportive of this exploration effort,” he said.
This announcement follows two similar announcements by QatarEnergy in February last year of oil discoveries in the Graff-1 well and in the Venus-1X prospect, both located in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia.
