Namibia, is making efforts to fast-track the development of breakthrough discoveries in the Orange Basin. This was disclosed by Petroleum Commissioner of Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, Maggy Shino, in an exclusive interview with Energy Capital & Power.
Speaking on the viability of recent discoveries, Shino explained that the country has been on a roll since 2022. And since then, nearly every hole that has been drilled has yielded positive outcome and indication of hydrocarbons.
“Between February 2022 and July 2023, we have had oil discoveries: the Graff-1, Jonker- 1X, La Rona-1 and Lesedi-1X discoveries in PEL 39 by Shell Namibia Upstream BV and its partners, and the Venus-1 discovery in PEL 56 by TotalEnergies EP Namibia and its partners.” Shino said in the interview, as gathered by Sweetcruders.
He further mentioned that there were four drilling rigs currently operating in the country’s waters. The Deepsea Mira, Tungsten Explorer, Deepsea Bollsta and Maersk Voyager – which are working tirelessly to appraise these discoveries and determine how much oil will be able to flow to the surface and at the same time explore for more upside potential of these blocks.
He added that, they have just explored the Orange basin, but plans are been put in place to explore the offshore market, the Lüderitz, Walvis and Namib Basins are highly prospective and share many characteristics of the Orange basin yet remain highly underexplored.
The Namibian government is working to establish effective petroleum revenue management legislation, in its effort to ensure sustainable balance between the needs of the oil and gas industry and the needs of the Namibian people.
“We are placing a strong focus on achieving value creation through local content. There are significant opportunities along the oil and gas value chain for Namibians to participate, especially in servicing the exploration sector.” The commissioner said.
Before recent discoveries, almost 37 dry wells were drilled. This made it difficult for Namibia to prove to the world that it had oil and gas. But the recent discoveries, have proven to be testaments of both patience and hard work, as well as market potentials.
