Large-scale discoveries in the Orange Basin have positioned Namibia’s offshore basins as one of the world’s top oil and gas markets. Global majors and international independents have bolstered investment in the region, resulting in more discoveries and continued exploration.
Mangetti-IX Find
French supermajor TotalEnergies intersected hydrocarbon-bearing intervals in the Mangetti-1X exploration well, offshore Namibia in early February 2024. Situated within Block 2913B, the discovery marks TotalEnergies’ second find in the Orange Basin. The major is leveraging the Tungsten Explorer drillship to assess reserves available in Mangetti-1X.
Mopane-1X Discovery
Portuguese energy corporation Galp, the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) and exploration companies Sintana Energy and Custos Energy announced their second oil discovery at the Mopane-1X well in Namibia in late-January 2024. The discovery of light oil is Galp’s second in Namibia’s offshore Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 83 and the sixth in the Orange Basin.
Knowledge Katti, Chairman and CEO of Custos Energy, said “The preliminary results of the initial exploration campaign on PEL 83 demonstrate the expanding scope and potential of Namibia’s Orange Basin.”
Shell Makes Four Commercial Discoveries
Energy supermajor Shell announced the discovery of oil reserves in the Lesedi-1X exploration well in July 2023, marking its fourth commercial discovery in the Orange Basin in Namibia. The Lesedi-1X discovery followed Shell’s sighting of up to 1.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent reserves in the Graff-1X, La Rona and Jonker-1X wells in 2022 and 2023, underscoring the basin’s immense potential.
In the Jonker-1X, the major partnered with NAMCOR and oil corporation Qatar Energy to conduct an extensive drilling campaign using the Odfjell Deepsea Bollsta semi-submersible rig. Shell’s Graff-1X discovery is reported to contain 6 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, positioning Namibia as a potential gas exporter. Drilled as an appraisal well to understand the Graff-1X discovery, La Rona is sited 8km northeast of the Graff well. Following the four discoveries, Shell allocated 25% of its 2023-2024 budget towards deepwater exploration in the Orange Basin. The aim is to further understand the four discoveries and search for additional commercial oil and gas finds in the high-prospect basin.
TotalEnergies Makes Venus-1X Discovery
TotalEnergies struck significant oil deposits with associated gas on the Venus-1X prospect in Block 2913B in February 2022. According to research firm Wood Mackenzie, the Venus-1X project could contain up to 3 billion barrels of oil, making it sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil discovery.
Kevin McLachlan, Senior Vice President Exploration at TotalEnergies, said “This discovery offshore Namibia and the very promising initial results prove the potential of this play in the Orange Basin, on which TotalEnergies owns an important position both in Namibia and South Africa.”