Following recent reports that Shell has made an oil discovery offshore Namibia, the confirmation came Friday from its partners QatarEnergy and NAMCOR.
QatarEnergy, which used to be called Qatar Petroleum, has confirmed that oil was found in a deepwater exploration well drilled in the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia, in the PEL-39 license.
"The consortium partners, comprising QatarEnergy (45% interest), Shell (operator, 45% interest) and National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia “NAMCOR” (10% interest), have successfully concluded drilling operations of the Graff-1 well establishing the presence of a working petroleum system with light oil. The partners will conduct analysis on the well data and further exploration activity to determine the full size and recoverable resource potential," QatarEnergy said.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, and President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: “We are encouraged by the Graff-1 well results, which enhance the potential of our exploration acreage in Namibia’s offshore."
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate our partners Shell and NAMCOR, and my colleagues in QatarEnergy for their great efforts that led to this discovery, in a safe and efficient manner. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the government of Namibia on the next steps, following this discovery.”
New Dawn
The Graff-1 well, located in the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia, 270 km from the town of Oranjemun, was drilled using the Valaris DS-10 drillship. The well was drilled to a total depth of 5,376 meters in water depths of approximately 2,000 meters in the PEL-39 license area, which covers a total area of 12,299 km2. Drilling operations started in early December 2021 and were completed in early February 2022.
In a separate statement on Friday, NAMCOR, Shell and QatarEnergy's, partner said: "In the coming months, we will perform extensive laboratory analyses to gain a better understanding of the reservoir quality and potential flow rates achievable. Whilst we can learn a great deal from the results of Graff-1, we anticipate that further exploration activity, including a second exploration well, will be required to determine the size and recoverable potential of the identified hydrocarbons."
“We hope that this discovery puts to rest doubts about the hydrocarbon potential of Namibia and opens a new dawn in the country’s future prosperity,” said NAMCOR's Managing Director, Immanuel Mulunga.