National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) head of upstream Victoria Sibeya according Bloomberg, says the presence of three oil rigs in Namibian waters carrying out exploration work is a record for the country.
According to global energy technology company, Baker Hughes Inc, Namibia now accounts for about 13% of all offshore rigs operating on the continent.
This comes as the Deepsea Mira entered Namibian waters and is preparing to start work for TotalEnergies, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
The French oil major is already using the Tungsten Explorer for a multiwell program in Namibia’s waters.
TotalEnergies 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 10 exploration and appraisal wells within the block
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.
TotalEnergies is the operator with a 40% working interest, alongside QatarEnergy (30%), Impact Oil and Gas (20%) and state owned NAMCOR (10%).
Deepsea Mira, is owned by Oslo Stock Exchange listed company, Northern Ocean Ltd, which entered into a N$1.7-billion contract extension with Shell Namibia Upstream B.V for continued work in the country using the Deepsea Bollsta.
The subsidiary of multinational oil and gas company Shell Plc’s deal, which runs from December 2023 into June 2024, has an additional option for six months at a cost of N$1.6 billion.
NAMCOR anticipates the country to commence oil production by 2029.
Increased oil exploration in Namibia comes after more N$30 billion has been invested by oil companies since independence towards exploration, according to the Namibia Petroleum Operators Association.- The Brief /Bloomberg
