Shell Strikes Oil Again in Namibia with Jonker-1X Deepwater Exploration Well

After discovering oil and the Graff-1 well in Namibia in 2022, Shell has now made another offshore oil discovery in the country's deep waters.

This time, Shell made a discovery at the Jonker-1X deep-water exploration well, QatarEnergy and Namcor, Shell's partners in the PEL-39 Exploration License, offshore Namibia, said Monday.

Using the Deepsea Bollsta semi-submersible drilling rig, the Jonker-1X well was drilled to a total depth of 6,168 meters in a water depth of 2,210 meters. 

The acquired data is being evaluated, and further appraisal is planned to determine the size and recoverable potential of the discovery, QatarEnergy said.

The drilling operations started in December 2022 and were completed in early March 2023.

Located approximately 270 kilometers off the coast of Namibia, in the deep-water offshore, the Jonker-1X discovery is the third well drilled on the license held by Shell within a year, Namcor said.

The PEL-39 Exploration License is held by a consortium comprised of QatarEnergy (with a 45% working interest), Shell (Operator with a 45% working interest) and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia “NAMCOR" (with a 10% working interest).©NAMCOR

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Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: “We are pleased with this encouraging discovery, which is our third in Namibia. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our partners Shell and NAMCOR, and to congratulate and thank the Government of the Republic of Namibia, which has been very supportive of this exploration effort.”

NAMCOR's Upstream Exploration Executive, Victoria Sibeya said:“NAMCOR would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our partners Shell (Operator) and QatarEnergy for safely drilling the Jonker-1X deep-water well. The encouraging results from the well are a geological testimony of the significant hydrocarbon potential in the deepwater 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 discovery”. 

Immanuel Mulunga, Managing Director of NAMCOR, said: “We are delighted to announce this third oil discovery after the success of the Graff-1X andVenus-1X discoveries by Shell and TotalEnergies in 2022. This discovery has proven the exciting and world-class potential of the deep-water Orange Basin”.