RE: keep on keeping on26 Aug 2022 08:21
Namibia has leapt to the forefront of exploration thinking with the Venus and Graff discoveries earlier this year, but there are opportunities beyond TotalEnergies and Shell.
The two major finds were announced in the southern Orange Basin, which is shared with South Africa. Namibia also has the Namibe, Luderitz and Walvis basins offshore, while the onshore is largely unexplored.
The Venus and Graff discoveries are a “big positive” for Namibia, founder and managing director of SNC Incorporated Shakwa Nyambe said. “It’s going to spark a lot interest in the upstream and I expert M&A as bigger companies come in to acquire assets from junior oil companies,” the lawyer said.
Operators will drill more wells by the third or fourth quarter, Nyambe said, with a strong oil price fuelling the excitement.
A number of small companies in the offshore celebrated the results from TotalEnergies and Shell.
Havoc Partners’ Richard Higgins, for instance, said the company was “confident that the newly defined plays” of Venus and Graff “extend well into our operated Block 2813B (PEL90). We are very excited by this and plan to acquire a 3D seismic survey at the earliest opportunity.”
Basin play
Data from these discoveries has played a critical role in derisking the Orange Basin, Nyambe said, noting that more would come in the other three offshore basins.
“There’s a lot of work to be done in Walvis Basin, but the analysis from the Orange Basin may help determine strategy,” the lawyer said. Galp found oil at the Wingat well, in the Walvis Basin in 2013.
Small companies may be able to acquire seismic but drilling is likely to be beyond them. Nyambe predicted that sharing risk would play an important part in the exploration process.
Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas recently completed its acquisition of Azinam Group, giving it access to Namibian and South African opportunities. Consolidation and acquisitions among the smaller players would be a likely model for Namibia’s future, Nyambe said.
Angola lies to Namibia’s north with its history of exploration and production. However, the Namibe Basin extends across the border.
ExxonMobil has signed up to carry out exploration in this northern Namibian basin.
A representative confirmed to Energy Voice that Exxon had completed its seismic acquisition in its operated blocks. “Our exploration activities are currently in the analysis stage,” the official said.
The US company has signed up four areas, Blocks 1710, 1810, 1711 and 1811A. The licences cover around 28,000 square km, under PELs 86, 89 and 95.
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