French energy giant TotalEnergies has drilled and completed the Venus-1A appraisal well located in Block 2913B, approximately 13km to the north of the Venus-1X discovery well, using the Tungsten Explorer.
The exploration exercise is part of an ongoing multi-well appraisal and exploration drilling programme in Namibia.
The Venus-1A well according to Africa Oil, which has an interest through Impact Oil and Gas, is ready for its drill stem testing (DST) programme to be carried out by the Deepsea Mira rig, which is currently performing the DST work on Venus-1X including the drilling of a side-track.
The Canadian oil and gas company said the Tungsten Explorer had now mobilized to the location of Nara-1X exploration well, approximately 30km to the northwest of Venus-1X in Block 2912 and is currently drilling the well with the plan to perform a DST in case of a discovery.
“There is also a contingent appraisal well subject to a successful outcome from Nara-1X operations. The planned DSTs on all the wells are expected to provide important data for determining the dynamic performance of the reservoir(s) and estimating flow rates that could be achieved by the production wells. Although, at this stage there is no guarantee of an economically viable project,” Africa Oil said in its quarterly report released this week.
DST is a process used to evaluate the potential productivity of a reservoir in order to measure the pressure, flow rate, and other relevant parameters of the formation fluids (oil, gas, and sometimes water) that are present in the reservoir.
This comes as the French energy giant has allocated almost 50% of its global exploration budget of N$5.5 billion (US$300 million) to Namibia this year, aiming to confirm the multibillion-barrel discovery in Block 2913B (PEL 56) located in the Orange Basin.
Block 2913B covers approximately 8,215km² offshore Namibia.
TotalEnergies is the operator with a 40% working interest, alongside QatarEnergy (30%), Africa Oil’s Impact Oil and Gas (20), and Namibia’s NAMCOR (10%).
The Venus discovery is a light oil and associated gas field, located in the Orange Basin, approximately 290 kilometres off the coast of southern Namibia, and in a water depth of approximately 3,000 metres.
