Shell, the United Kingdom-based oil exploration company’s exploration well offshore in Namibia did not make a commercial oil and gas discovery, the company has said in a statement.
Last week, Financial Times reported that Shell and TotalEnergies, the two of Europe’s biggest energy companies were stepping up efforts to open a potentially giant oilfield off the coast of Namibia in one of the clearest signs the industry was pursuing new fossil fuel resources.
Namibia, which has yet to produce any oil and gas, has attracted strong interest from international companies after the two exploration companies recently made discoveries off the coast of the southern African country, ThisDay report says.
“The well did not make a discovery, however, we are encouraged to have found indications of a working petroleum system in this previously untested area of our licence,” the statement added.
Shell, which has drilled four exploration wells in the Atlantic Ocean off Namibia’s southern coast since 2021, received approval in June to drill 10 more. This year France’s TotalEnergies will spend $300mn — half of its global exploration budget — in the country.
The well was plugged and abandoned and Shell will now analyse the data gathered before deciding on any follow-up activity.
