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TotalEnergies will be targeting a billion-barrel resource with its next deepwater well offshore Namibia, according to chief executive Patrick Pouyanne.

The Tamboti-1X probe is due to spud shortly in the northeast of Block 2913B which hosts the supermajor’s huge Venus discovery.

Fresh from completing what is thought to have been an unsuccessful exploration well on the Niamou prospect in Congo-Brazzaville waters, semi-submersible Deepsea Mira is en route to Walvis Bay to stock up on supplies before heading to the drilling location in the prolific Orange basin.

According to marine intelligence provider VesselsValue, the semisub is currently off Namibia's Skeleton Coast.

During TotalEnergies’ strategy and outlook event in New York on Wednesday, its chief executive was asked by an analyst to give a pre-drill resource estimate for Tamboti.

The initial response of Pouyanne, who is normally reluctant to go public on resource numbers, was to say: “It’s big.”

When asked what “big” meant, he volunteered that Tamboti is an “elephant.”

After a short pause, Pouyanne revealed that “it’s a billion barrels,” although it is unclear if this is a recoverable number or oil-in-place (OIP) estimate.

Speaking at the same strategy event, the supermajor’s upstream boss Nicolas Terraz said Tamboti was “de-risked by a well drilled last year” on Mangetti.

The Mangetti-1X probe hit two reservoirs – which Upstream was previously told could hold 1.5 billion barrels of OIP - before drilling deeper to appraise the northern extent of Venus.

Given its nomenclature – 1X – it is assumed that Tamboti will target a prospect separate from Mangetti and Venus.

Upstream has been told that the Tamboti probe will not target Venus-age reservoir sands, which, together with Terraz’s comments, implies that it will be aiming for the shallower plays hit at the Mangetti well.

After completing Tamboti-1X, Terraz told analysts that TotalEnergies could drill recently identified prospects in the south of Block 2913B as well as “large” structures pinpointed in the company’s two blocks – DWOB and 3B/4B - in South Africa’s untested part of the deepwater Orange basin.

Https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exxon-plans-drill-up-30-wells-its-seventh-oil-project-guyana-2024-07-15/

Nice timing, too, that the bids have to be in by month's end it might perk a few up!

It's not just what we own of Hammerhead, its the possibility of the infrastructure to tie back to Jethro that could be the game changer. I'm not counting Joe in this, it may be developed, but Jethro has far more potential.

TotalEnergies plan for wildcat in South Africa’s Orange basin given a boost

Key government department approves drilling plan, with two conditions

TotalEnergies’ plan to drill a wildcat in South Africa’s part of the prolific Orange basin has been given a boost after a key government ministry approved the drilling operation, albeit with certain conditions.

The French supermajor is keen to explore the Deepwater Orange Basin (DWOB) block because it lies immediately south of its huge Venus and Mangetti discoveries in the basin’s Namibian waters.

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance party — which may end up forming a coalition government after this month’s elections — are both keen to see offshore exploration in the country, particularly off the west coast.

In October 2023, South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources & Energy (DMRE) granted an environmental authorisation for the TotalEnergies to drill an exploration well — the first of up to 10 wells — in DWOB.

However, third parties had a right to lodge a formal appeal against the DMRE’s decision, with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries & Environment (DFFE) receiving its eight compliant appeals by the mid-November deadline.

On 6 May, SLR Consulting — which is handling the DWOB environmental approval process on behalf of TotalEnergies — said that DFFE approved the drilling plan, with two conditions.

One is that the drilling plan will be stopped if a shipwreck or archaeological site is discovered during pre-drilling seabed surveys.

The second condition requires the appointment of a liaison officer to keep coastal communities informed of the drilling activities at regular intervals and who would be available to address questions and concerns.

TotalEnergies debut DWOB well will be drilled in a 9712-square-kilometre “area of interest” located between Port Nolloth and Hondeklip Bay, about 188 kilometres offshore at its nearest point and in water depths between 750 and 3100 metres.

Galp Energia’s share price surged almost 7% on Friday following news it has drilled a successful appraisal and exploration probe on its significant Mopane light oil find in Namibia’s Orange basin and is now set to return to the discovery well to carry out crucial production tests.

The Lisbon-based player has not yet revealed the size of Mopane, but the fact that the appraisal well lies eight kilometres from the discovery probe gives a good indication of the find’s big areal extent.

The company’s stock price increased 6.67% from Thursday's close to hit €15.55 ($16.93) on Friday morning at the time of publication.

Namibia’s Orange basin is a hive of drilling activity at the moment, with Shell having recently spudded an exploration probe called Enigma-1, while TotalEnergies is still on site at its successful Mangetti-1X well and also continuing operations on its Venus-2A appraisal well.

Galp said its Mopane-2X probe in Petroleum Exploration Licence 83 hit a “significant column of light oil in reservoirs of high quality”.

The well had three goals – to appraise the original discovery, drill an exploration target and to drill a deeper objective.

According to Galp’s brief statement, the “AVO-3 exploration target, the AVO-1 appraisal target and a deeper target were fully cored and logged”.

Namibia President Nangolo Mbumba — who assumed office after the death last month of his predecessor Hage Geingob — will hope the Orange basin keeps on giving.

It stressed that the appraisal target found “the same pressure regime as in the Mopane-1X discovery well located approximately eight kilometres to the east, confirming its lateral extension”.

Jefferies analyst Giacomo Romeo said Mopane is valued at €1.9 per share based on net recoverable resources of 800 million barrels of oil equivalent and a net present value of $4 per barrel, with a 50% risking.

Knowledge Katti, chief executive of Namibian player Custos, a partner in Mopane, said: “The continuing success of the exploration campaign further demonstrates the scope and potential of PEL 83.”

Maggy Shino, Petroleum Commission at Namibia’s Ministry of Mines & Energy, said: “The announcement of another significant discovery and the appraisal success at the upper target is further testament to the hard work and dedication of the partners involved, as well as another demonstration of the potential for further growth in our oil industry.

“With this discovery, we are one step closer to harnessing the full potential of this campaign.”

Robert Bose, chief executive of Sintana and indirect stakeholder in PEL 83, added that “this third light oil discovery in the Mopane complex and the appraisal results at the AVO-1 reservoir … provide further evidence of the scale and quality of our exploration portfolio held through our local partners, including Custos”.

PEL 83 lies immediately north of Shell’s PEL 39 and is north and east of Tota

Can't help but feel Total and Qatar giving Eco the rest of the WI in Guyana at no cost, was part of this deal, unofficially.....

Given that Total did back away from the farm out (https://www.africaintelligence.com/southern-africa-and-islands/2023/06/20/totalenergies-takes-step-back-from-offshore-block-3b_4b,109995682-art), now they, plus others are interested is great news.

Yes, drilling is slipping to the right, but without finance, there would be no drilling! This is very positive news and is a result that the South African government has finally broken through the legal restraints regarding oil and gas exploration.

A last-minute burst of interest by multiple supermajors in a sought-after exploration block in South Africa’s sector of the prolific Orange basin will delay the conclusion of a farm-out process.

Block 3B/4B — an asset that could host 4 billion barrels of recoverable resources — is operated by Stockholm-listed independent Africa Oil, which together with its two partners are keen to farm out a combined 55% stake in the deepwater acreage.

A data room has been open for some months and there were expectations in the market that a farm out deal could be struck soon, but an eleventh-hour flurry of interest means there will now be a delay.

“There is a high level of interest from major companies to come into this block and I anticipate that, certainly within 2024, we will have concluded a farm-in,” Africa Oil chief executive Roger Tucker told analysts recently.

Block 3B/4B is completely covered by 3D seismic data, studies of which have identified 24 prospects, many thought to be in the same Late Cretaceous play as the very big Jonker and Venus discoveries made by Shell and TotalEnergies’ on the Namibian side of this oil and gas rich basin.

“We have had significant discussions with one major already on that block,” Tucker told investors on 16 November, and had hoped to wrap up a deal — which would likely involve drilling two exploration wells — sooner rather than later.

However, he pointed out that now, because “three other majors have asked to come into” the data room, finalisation of a farm out agreement will take a bit more time”.

“The (deal) is going to take a little bit longer. But I think it’s worth standing on the sidelines and not leaping at the first opportunity, because there has been this sudden uptick in the level of interest in the block,” he said.

Tucker said he wants to give these late arriving majors the time needed to study what is on offer in the data room, before a decision is made and a deal wrapped up.

He reckons an agreement could be clinched “towards the end of the first quarter” of 2024.

Tucker did not name the interested parties, but it is thought they include Shell and TotalEnergies – who already operate acreage elsewhere in South Africa’s Orange basin – would be keen to assess the potential of Block 3B/4B.

Africa Oil holds a 26.25% in the block, with Eco Atlantic holding 20% and privately-owned South African player Ricocure on 53.75%.(Copyright)

Https://www.upstreamonline.com/exploration/totalenergies-overcomes-green-opposition-to-secure-wildcatting-ticket-in-red-hot-orange-basin/2-1-1542124

In the news almost daily. Summarised article.

Since Shell and TotalEnergies made the important oil discoveries of Graff and Venus off the coast of Namibia 18 months ago, just days before Russia attacked Ukraine, rumours have been going around about how big they are.

People have used the term "billion of barrels" a lot, which has made some people wonder if the size of these Orange basin finds was just exaggerated. This is always a risk in the exciting world of exploration.

After all, billion-barrel oil finds are rare outside of the Middle East, Russia, and a few other places like Brazil and, most recently, Guyana.

This negative story was helped along by Namibia's bad, but completely undeserved, image among investors. This was because the Kudu gas find from decades ago cast a dark shadow over the Orange basin's oil potential.

Patrick Pouyanne, the CEO of TotalEnergies, was quick to act and try to set limits on what people could expect.

But the supermajor's exploration team must have persuaded Pouyanne that Venus was worth his time, because he decided to spend most of TotalEnergies' research budget for 2023 to study it this year.

From what people say about drilling, it sounds like this money was well spent. The first appraisal probe, which was done 13 kilometres away from the finding well, was said to be a huge success.

Shell has been quiet about its business and has also tried to lower people's hopes about Graff and the three finds that came after it, La Rona, Jonker, and Lesedi.

Both supermajors have been loath to talk about resource size, so Namcor, Namibia's state oil company, announcing last week that 11 billion barrels of oil in place have been found to date seems to be a good reason for all the early excitement.

Namcor, citing Wood Mackenzie, said that Venus with 5.1 billion barrels and Jonker with 2.5 billion barrels are the most interesting findings. This means that Lower and Middle Cretaceous plays like Venus and Jonker are more interesting than Upper Cretaceous plays like Graff.

Even though WoodMac's numbers are estimates, conservative recovery rates show that each discovery could produce at least 1 billion barrels.

Drill stem tests and exploring probes drilled on TotalEnergies' Nara prospect and Shell's Cullinan structure will give a lot more information about recovery rates and could also increase resources.

In the midst of all this oil-related excitement, it's easy to forget that two of the world's largest oil companies have also found almost 9 trillion cubic feet of associated gas in this rich geological basin. This is a hydrocarbon play that just keeps providing.

Last week, Namibia's Petroleum Commissioner Maggy Shino said it very well: "We have only just begun to scratch the surface of the Orange basin." That's right.

Are you sure that's not all your 100k trades going through? Big buying pressure this morning. When Gil pulls off deals like the one in Guyana, then expect the unexpected. If you look on fintel.io, search eco atlantic then institutional ownership, the increase in IIs taking positions in the last 4 months is huge! Follow the big boys....

TSX closed at 21p equivalent. I have a feeling Fidelity are loading up at these prices and it's not be allowed to gap up yet. They have been buying MILLIONS of shares over last 3 months. Well over 6% now.

I've not copied the article, but summarised it here.

Shell and TotalEnergies have unearthed a minimum of 11 billion barrels of light oil along with up to 8.7 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Orange basin in Namibia over the past year and a half, as confirmed by leading petroleum authorities in the nation.

These remarkable figures, revealed recently, emphasize the understanding that this new geological zone's hydrocarbon capacity — extending also into South African waters — equates with the offshore regions of Guyana, where ExxonMobil discovered enormous reserves.

Derived from just a few exploration and assessment wells, these estimates were highlighted at an essential upstream gathering in Windhoek last week by Maggy Shino, Petroleum Commissioner at Namibia’s Ministry of Mines & Energy, who stated, “The Orange basin's potential is only beginning to be uncovered.”

Currently, attention is on Namibia's substantial oil findings, but Shino informed participants at the Namibia Oil & Gas Conference that up to 8.7 Tcf of associated gas has been found in the Orange basin by the European energy giants' continuing exploration efforts.

This quantity greatly surpasses domestic demands, potentially supporting exports like blue hydrogen and maybe liquefied natural gas, as she noted.

Following the Graff discovery in February 2022, Shell reported three more oil discoveries within its Namibian sectors.

During that same month, TotalEnergies located oil at the Venus site and is performing appraisal drilling while pursuing what might become a significant ultra-deepwater discovery.

Namcor, the state-run oil company, partnered in all these discoveries and engaged the UK consultancy Wood Mackenzie to conduct an impartial evaluation of the resources identified so far.

Shiwana Ndeunyema, Namcor’s temporary managing director, illustrated the immense scale of the discoveries thus far, equaled only by Guyana over the last decade.

“We're observing 11 billion barrels of reserves (oil in situ),” he mentioned, emphasizing, “These figures are the most cautious estimates.”

He noted that among these new findings, Venus is the largest, containing 5.1 billion barrels of crude oil in situ.

Shell's recent discovery, Jonker — an eastern expansion of the Venus play — contains roughly 2.5 billion barrels of in-place oil resource, based on WoodMac's evaluation.

According to Ndeunyema's demonstration, expedited, phased advancements are being designed for Venus and Jonker, while no developmental concepts have been suggested for Shell's other two discoveries.

Despite Graff being larger than Jonker, with roughly 2.71 billion barrels of oil in two distinct reservoirs, one holding 2.38 billion barrels and the other, a Cenomanian play, accommodating 229 million barrels.

Shell's latest discovery, Lesedi, is thought to contain about 258 million barrels of in-place oil.

Https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-18/namibia-plans-2-1-billion-port-expansion-for-oil-developments?in_source=embedded-checkout-banner

I'd hazard a guess, wind off the DST performance on Venus 1-x is out.....

Mentions drilling two wells this .year on 3B/4B

New hydrocarbons provinces open up

Following in neighbouring Namibia’s slipstream, South Africa is another new hydrocarbons province catching IOC attention. Africa Oil Corp, operator of block 3B/4B, is partnering with Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas and Ricocure on reprocessing 3D seismic data and preparing for a two-well drilling campaign this year. And in Zimbabwe the Australian independent Invictus Energy has identified 13 potential hydrocarbon-bearing zones, with drilling planned for later this year.

https://african.business/2023/07/energy-resources/new-oil-and-gas-prospects-hold-big-promise-as-frontier-exploration-pushes-forward-in-africa

Up to 20p equivalent today...

Or 6 years.....

Https://namibiadailynews.info/eco-atlantic-sees-interest-from-oil-majors-for-namibian-blocks/