Portuguese oil company Galp Energia (GALP.LS) announced on Sunday the successful completion of the first phase of exploration in the Mopane field off the coast of Namibia, estimating a potential reserve of at least 10 billion barrels of oil.
Testing operations conducted at the Mopane-1X well in January and the Mopane-2X well in March revealed significant light oil columns in high-quality reservoir sands, Galp reported. The wells, situated 8 kilometres apart in the Orange Basin, yielded flows reaching the maximum limit of 14 thousand barrels per day during testing, indicating the potential for Mopane to be a substantial commercial discovery.
Galp holds an 80% stake in Petroleum Exploration Licence 83 (PEL 83), covering an area of nearly 10,000 square kilometres in the Orange Basin. With strong investments in Brazil and a natural gas project in Mozambique’s Rovuma basin, Namibia presents a promising new revenue source for Galp.
The discovery comes amid OPEC+ interest in Namibia for possible membership, seeking to bolster Africa’s oil output in the coming decade. With Angola and other players exiting the group in recent years, Namibia’s potential as a major oil producer has garnered attention from industry officials and investors alike.
