The National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) and its partners in the Jonker-1X deep-water exploration project, Shell and Qatar Energy, have announced the discovery of light oil 270km off the coast of Namibia.
Leveraging the Odfjell Deepsea Bollsta semi-submersible rig, NAMCOR and its partners encountered light oil at a total well depth of 6,168 meters in water depths of 2,210 meters in Block 2913A and 2914B in the hydrocarbon-rich Orange Basin, offshore Namibia.
The discovery is Namibia’s third after Shell’s Graff-1X and TotalEnergies’ Venus-1X in early 2022.
Commenting on the milestone, Victoria Sibeya, Executive Upstream Exploration, NAMCOR, said “The encouraging results from the well are a geological testimony of the huge hydrocarbon potential in the deep-water play of the Orange Basin. We look forward to the appraisal activities and our collaborative relationship with our joint venture partners and our shareholder, the Government of the Republic of Namibia, to fully assess the commerciality of this major oil discovery.”
NAMCOR, Shell and QatarEnergy will evaluate the data gathered from the exploration project and conduct more drilling to assess the hydrocarbons reserves present in the project.
Shell Namibia as the operator of the block holds a 45% stake whilst QatarEnergy owns another 45% and NAMCOR a 10% interest.
