Significant light oil discoveries at the Mopane 1-X well in Namibia’s Orange Basin have put the region in the spotlight.
Sintana Energy Inc CEO Robert Bose discussed the significance of two recent discoveries by Portuguese energy giant Galp on blocks governed by Petroleum Exploration License 83 (PEL 83).
Sintana Energy holds a 49% indirect interest in Custos Energy, a 10% working interest owner in PEL 83. It also holds an indirect interest in other licenses in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia.
“[These light oil discoveries] continue to demonstrate the sheer scale of the Orange Basin,” Bose told Proactive.
“The Mopane prospect contains up to 10 billion barrels of original oil in place itself. Secondly, it confirms the discoveries on the Shell PLC blocks northward to some of our other blocks.”
On January 26, it was announced that PEL 83 operator Galp, in partnership with Custos and the National Petroleum Company of Namibia (NAMCOR), had successfully drilled, cored, and logged a deeper target at the Mopane-1X well and discovered a second significant column of light oil in reservoir-bearing sands of high quality.
Earlier this month, Galp and its partners confirmed the discovery of a first significant column of light oil in reservoir-bearing sands of high quality.
“It’s been just an amazing start to the year announcing an initial light oil discovery on January 10 then on January 26 we were able to announce this second light oil discovery,” Bose said.
“We’ve been able to announce light oil discoveries on just one of the handful of blocks we have so it’s a huge step forward for us. It’s turned us from a portfolio of as-yet-unknown options to the owner of an indirect interest in a world-scale discovery with a bunch more options to boot.”
The drill rig at Mopane-1X will soon be relocated to the Mopane-2X well to evaluate the extent of the recent light oil discoveries.
Bose explained that upon the completion of those drilling operations, the rig will return to the Mopane-1X to execute a drill stem test, a test that determines the productivity of an oil or gas well by sampling the flow.
“So, we’ll have a sense not only of the significant hydrocarbon volumes there but also the extent of their flow which is a key test of the commerciality of these potential resources,” he said.
Sintana Energy is engaged in petroleum and natural gas exploration and development activities on five large, highly prospective, onshore and offshore petroleum exploration licenses in Namibia, and also in Colombia’s Magdalena Basin.