French oil major TotalEnergies is set to embark on a multi-well appraisal and exploration program offshore Nambia, where it made one of the world's largest oil discoveries in 2022, by drilling the Venus-1x well.
According to Impact Oil & Gas Limited, one of TotalEnergies' partners in the offshore acreage in Nambia, the drilling will start before the end of February, targeting up to four wells.
This will include the re-entry of the Venus-1X discovery well, in Block 2913B, to appraise the Venus discovery and to investigate a potential westerly extension of Venus, the Nara prospect on Block 2912.
The original Venus-1X discovery sits in a water depth of about 3,000 meters. It is located 290 kilometers off the coast of southern Namibia. The well was drilled to a total depth of 6,296 meters by the Maersk Voyager drillship, and encountered a high-quality, light oil-bearing sandstone reservoir of Lower Cretaceous age.
As part of its 2023 drilling program, Total Energies will first drill the Venus-1A well, on Block 2913B, using Vantage Drilling's Tungsten Explorer drillship. The first appraisal well on the Venus discovery. This will be followed by a drill stem test using the Northern Ocean's Deepsea Mira semi-submersible drilling rig.
©Impact Oil and Gas
The Venus-1A well will be located around 13 kilometers to the north of the Venus-1X discovery well.
Following the completion of the Venus-1A drill stem test, TotalEnergies will re-enter and side-track the Venus-1x discovery well using the Deepsea Mira to conduct a second drill stem test.
The oil company will then use the Tungsten Explorer drillship at Nara-1X, an exploration well on Block 2912, to drill the well and potentially flow test it.
If Nara-1X proves successful, the Nara-1A appraisal well could then be drilled in Block 2912 and flow tested, Impact said.
Impact said that the Block 2912 may contain a „highly material westerly extension“ of the Venus field.
"Operations by TotalEnergies during 2023, on behalf of the Joint Venture, are designed to explore and, if successful, test this potential extension of the Venus accumulation into Block 2912 and provide an understanding of the structure and reservoir quality,“ Impact said.
Phil Birch, Exploration Director of Impact, commented: “This exciting and active 2023 work program is aimed at proving the flow potential of the Venus reservoir, and investigate a potentially material extension into the adjacent licence. If successful, it will result in two potentially fully appraised early production centres, one on Block 2913B and the second on Block 2912”.
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