More seismic to be shot offshore Namibia20 Jun 2023 14:06
major seismic surveys lined up for namibia’s unsung offshore areas
australian contractor set to start campaigns late this year in sp****ly drilled luderitz and walvis basins
20 june 2023 12:52 gmt updated 20 june 2023 12:52 gmt
by iain esau in london
an australian contractor has filed plans with namibia's government to kick off the first of an array of seismic surveys late this year in two of the nation's long-neglected, but prospective offshore petroleum basins.
the huge discoveries made over the past year or so by totalenergies and shell have triggered an oil rush to secure stakes in the namibian part of the orange basin.
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however, the cost of securing access to the few remaining opportunities in this play has priced out of the market many latecomers to the party, leaving them to focus on less mature plays to the north.
among areas garnering interest are the almost untouched luderitz basin, directly north of the orange basin, and the lightly explored walvis basin immediately north of the luderitz play.
it is in these two basins that searcher seismic plans to acquire both multi-client and proprietary 2d and 3d data across no less than 25 blocks or part-blocks.
an environmental plan has already been filed with the windhoek-based authorities in an effort to secure the green light later this year and begin offshore operations this november, targeting completion in april 2024.
the area of interest for these seismic campaigns covers an area of about 128,000 square kilometres where water depths range from 500 metres in the east to about 4000 metres in the west.
most of the operations — set to be carried out by two vessels — will focus on gathering 2d seismic data on what is called a ‘multi-client’ basis, which means a lot of oil companies are paying searcher to gather this non-exclusive information.
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data from what is expected to be a single 3d shoot will be purely for the eyes of one of more clients.
the surveys will cover blocks 2211ba, 2211bb, 2212b, 2311a, 2311b, 2312, 2412a, 2412b, 2413b, 2512a, 2512b and 2513 plus parts of blocks 2210a, 2210bb, 2211a, 2211aa, 2212a, 2310, 2313, 2411, 2511, 2611, 2612a, 2612b and 2613.
the operators of the nine licensed blocks the surveys would venture into include maurel & prom, eco atlantic, namcor, black eagle e&p and eight offshore investments, according to data from the namibian government.
four blocks under negotiation would also be covered as well as 12 open blocks.
only one exploration well has been drilled in the luderitz basin, according to a 2022 presentation from uk-based consultancy 1st subsurface, with at least seven wells drilled in the walvis basin.
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