Staff Reporter
THE National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) has outlined its position on Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 39 following the global oil giant Shell’s recent determination that oil discoveries made in some of the wells drilled offshore were not viable for commercial development.
According to a NAMCOR statement released on Friday, the PEL 39 Joint Venture (JV) partners have, since 2022, drilled six exploration wells and three appraisal wells across the PEL 39 license area.
“Throughout this period, extensive data indicating significant hydrocarbon prospectivity within the license blocks has been collected. However, despite these promising findings, challenges such as ultra-deepwater conditions and reservoir complexities remain associated with these discoveries.
In light of the above developments, the PEL 39 JV partners are actively evaluating pathways for further exploration and appraisal activities to assess the potential for oil and gas development in the license block, in line with existing agreements,” said NAMCOR.
PEL 39 is situated 250 km offshore in deep water, covering an area of more than 12,000 km².
NAMCOR, together with its JV partners TotalEnergies (Operator), QatarEnergy, and Impact Oil and Gas Namibia (Pty) Ltd in PEL 56, is currently progressing with extensive post-well studies from the Venus wells, which will continue through 2025. Following the completion of the Venus main area appraisal campaigns, the JV partners are now prioritizing studies aimed at fast-tracking the potential development of the Venus discovery.
NAMCOR said that it remains optimistic about the hydrocarbon potential of the Orange Basin and the broader offshore Namibia.
Shell announced that it will write down US$400 million on an oil discovery made in Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 39 in accordance with the company’s accounting principles. However, the oil company, together with its partners, will continue to explore potential commercial pathways to development while actively looking for further exploration opportunities.
