Wingat-1 Well Disappoints

Portugal's Galp Energia reported Tuesday that the Wingat-1 exploration well, offshore Namibia has finished drilling but failed to find oil in commercial quantities.

The Wingat-1 well, which spud on March 25, is located in Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) 23 in the Walvis basin. Galp said that although results from the well indicated the presence of oil this was not in commercial quantities, leading to the well currently being plugged and abandoned.

However, Galp pointed out that because the source rock encountered by the well is in the oil window and generating liquid hydrocarbons it confirmed the source potential of the basin.

"As such, the results of Wingat-1 well provide important information that will help calibrating the next exploration steps in the Walvis basin. These source rocks present in the well can charge reservoir intervals of other prospects identified in the license, including Murombe prospect, which will be the next prospect to be drilled," Galp said in its statement.

The Transocean Marianas (DW semisub) rig will now be mobilized to the Murombe prospect, located around nine miles west of Wingat-1, where the well to be drilled will test a Cretaceous basin floor fan.

Galp holds a 14-percent stake in the consortium that explores three offshore PELs in Namibia, including PEL 23. The operator of PEL 23 is HRT Participações em Petróleo.