TotalEnergies is mobilising almost 50% of its global exploration budget of N$5.5 billion (US$300 million) to Namibia this year as it hopes to confirm a multibillion-barrels discovery on block 2913b within the Orange Basin.
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné made the announcement during the company’s 2022 Results & 2023 Objectives presentation.
The French major will spend N$5.5 billion (US$300m) on appraising its Venus discovery in the Orange Basin with the mobilisation of two drilling rigs and the drilling of several wells.
TotalEnergies is currently carrying out an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for block 2912, where the oil company plans to drill up to 10 exploration and appraisal wells within the block, with drilling expected to take between three to four months, commencing in the second quarter of 2023.
The drill area is 5,20 square kilometres and located 350km from Luderitz and 340km from Oranjemund at depths between 2,940m and 3,700m.
Hawilti’s Offshore Rigs Tracker shows that the Tungsten Explorer is finally on its way to Namibia where it is expected to start drilling this quarter.
The drillship will start with the Venus-1A appraisal well before moving to drill new exploration wells into the adjacent Block 2912, also operated by TotalEnergies.
Drilling on that second block will target the Nara-1 well and a potential Nara-1A appraisal well, which will both include drill stem tests (DSTs).
The second rig, Deepsea Mira, is not expected before the middle of this year and will be mobilised for DSTs operations both at Venus-1A and Venus-1.
“We want to accelerate the time to market (…) if we confirm the volumes discovered, there is room for a fast-track development,” Pouyanné was quoted, explaining that the company could be at the helm of a new golden block that would be “a new chapter of the old business”.
TotalEnergies hopes to replicate the tremendous success it has had on Block 17 offshore Angola, where it was able to start producing only five years after its initial discovery there.
Block 17 is referred to as its “Golden Block” with a total of four floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels commissioned between 2001 and 2014.
Block 2913B covers approximately 8,215 km² in deep offshore Namibia.
TotalEnergies is the operator with a 40% working interest, alongside QatarEnergy (30%), Impact Oil and Gas (20%) and state owned NAMCOR (10%).
President Hage Geingob said the recent oil discoveries by TotalEnergies and Shell off the coast of Namibia have potential to propel the country to become a major oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Exploration companies have invested over N$30 billion in the country since independence, according to the Namibia Petroleum Operators Association (NAMPOA).-The Brief/Hawilti
