Galp, the Portuguese oil and gas company, has discovered light oil and gas condensate during its second exploration and appraisal program in Namibia’s Orange Basin.
This discovery, near previous finds by Shell and TotalEnergies, builds on the success of its first campaign in license PEL 83.
The Mopane-1A appraisal well, drilled by Saipem’s Santorini drillship, is located in blocks 2813A and 2814B at the heart of the Orange Basin, a rapidly emerging oil and gas hub.
This marks the first of up to four wells in a campaign that includes two exploration and two appraisal wells.
Galp confirmed on November 29 that it had drilled, cored, and logged Mopane-1A, encountering light oil and gas condensate in high-quality reservoir-bearing sands.
The company highlighted the well’s favorable characteristics, including excellent porosity, high permeability, high pressure, low oil viscosity, minimal CO2, and the absence of H2S.
This discovery validates the extension and quality of previous findings at AVO-1, as well as the Mopane-1X and Mopane-2X wells. Galp, which holds an 80% stake as operator, is joined by partners NAMCOR and Custos, each holding 10%.
The partners plan to integrate newly acquired data and advance upcoming activities, which include further exploration and appraisal wells and a high-resolution proprietary 3D seismic survey scheduled for December 2024.
PEL 83 is strategically positioned near Shell’s significant discoveries at Graff-1, La Rona-1, and Jonker-1 in PEL 39, as well as TotalEnergies’ Venus-1 discovery in PEL 56.
Interest in Namibia’s Orange Basin continues to rise, underscored by Africa Oil Corp.’s increased stake in Impact Oil & Gas, which holds an interest in the Venus discovery. This reinforces the region’s status as one of the world’s most promising oil and gas frontiers.
