South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has granted TotalEnergies environmental authorisation to conduct exploratory drilling off the country’s southwest coast.
TotalEnergies will be able to drill up to five exploration wells within the area, known as Block 5/6/7, which overlaps with the Orange Basin, where Namibia has recorded two major oil finds. Total holds rights to the exploration block, along with Shell and PetroSA.
 The area covers 10,000 km² and lies roughly between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas. It is 60km from the coast at its closest point and 170km from the coast at its furthest.
The proposed drilling is planned from the fourth quarter of this year to the second quarter of 2024.
The drilling and testing are expected to take three to four months for each well. After considering submissions for the project, the DMRE concluded that all the prescribed procedural requirements were followed by TotalEnergies.
In Namibia, 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, alongside National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia, QatarEnergy, and Impact Oil and Gas, announced the Venus-1X discovery early last year. T
he discovery is located approximately 290 kilometres off the coast of Namibia, in the deep-water offshore exploration thought to straddle block 2913B and 2912, which covers approximately 8,215 km².
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.
TotalEnergies holds a 40% working interest in Block 2913B alongside QatarEnergy with 30%, Impact Oil & Gas on 20%, and Namibian state-owned oil company NAMCOR with 10%.-The Brief/Fin24
