Portugal’s Galp Energia has reported positive indications of hydrocarbons from an exploration well targeting a 10 billion-barrel prospect in Namibia’s exciting Orange basin, although it is far too early to say if it has a discovery on its hands.
The Lisbon-based operator began drilling its Mopane-1X probe on 17 November in Petroleum Exploration Licence 93 as part of a two-well exploration campaign to prove that the oil and gas rich play discovered by Shell and TotalEnergies in 2022 extends farther north.
Galp, as the operator of PEL 83, secured an extension for the license last year. The company holds an 80% interest in this asset while its partners, National Petroleum Company of Namibia (Namcor) and Custos Investments, each hold a 10% stake. Sintana has a 49% indirect interest in Custos.
The Portuguese player set the stage to drill a well in license PEL 83 in the heart of Namibia’s Orange Basin after entering into a contract with SFL Corporation for the Odfjell Drilling-managed Hercules rig in May 2023. The 115-day contract is for two wells plus optional well testing.
The Mopane prospect, which was spudded on November 17, 2023, is located at the southern end of PEL 83. This exploration well is the first of two wells that are scheduled to be drilled by the Hercules semi-submersible rig.
This license is located immediately north of Shell’s PEL 39 where the basin opening discoveries at Graff-1, La Rona-1 and Jonker-1 were drilled, and close to TotalEnergies’ multi-billion-barrel Venus-1 oil discovery on PEL 56.
The 2008-built Hercules sixth-generation deepwater and harsh environment semi-submersible rig, which is of GVA 7500 design, was constructed by DSME in South Korea and can accommodate 180 people. The rig can operate in water depths of 10,000 ft and its maximum drilling depth is 35,000 ft.