(Oil Price) – Namibia’s offshore has yielded quality discovery as the African country continues to be an exploration hotspot for international companies.
Portugal’s Galp has just successfully drilled and logged the Mopane-1A appraisal well in block PEL83, encountering light oil and gas-condensate in high-quality reservoir-bearing sands.
The findings of this third appraisal well are “once again indicating good porosities, high permeabilities, and high pressures, as well as low oil viscosity characteristics with minimum CO2 and no H2S concentrations,” Galp, which is the operator of the block, said in a statement.
The appraisal well confirms the extension and quality of the oil and condensate discoveries to date, it added.
Galp and its partners will continue to analyze and integrate all newly acquired data, whilst progressing with the upcoming activities, which include exploration and appraisal (E&A) wells, and a high-resolution proprietary 3D seismic campaign set to start in December 2024, the Portuguese company said.
In recent years, international majors have scaled back investments in Africa’s legacy producers such as Nigeria and Angola and have instead opted for exploration offshore Namibia, hoping it would be the next Guyana and the next major oil producer and exporter.
Shell, TotalEnergies, and Galp have announced major oil discoveries in the past two years offshore Namibia, including one giant find earlier this year.
At the end of April, Galp Energia said that the first phase of its exploration in the Mopane field offshore Namibia could contain at least 10 billion barrels of oil.
TotalEnergies and Shell have already made large discoveries offshore Namibia, kicking off the Namibian oil rush in 2022.
TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy are also expanding their efforts to explore for oil and gas in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia, which extends into South African waters.
Last week, QatarEnergy entered into an agreement to buy from TotalEnergies an additional 5.25% interest in block 2913B (PEL 56) and an additional 4.695% interest in block 2912 (PEL 91), in the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
