Shell Makes Deepwater Discovery Offshore Namibia

Shell revealed Monday that it has made another deepwater discovery offshore Namibia.

In a statement posted on its website, the company noted that it, QatarEnergy, and Namcor, “safely and successfully” concluded operations to drill exploration well Jonker-1X in the PEL 0039 license. The well was drilled to a total depth of 6,168 meters in a water depth of 2,210 meters, Shell highlighted, adding that drilling operations established the presence of a reservoir with light oil.

Further appraisal activities with dynamic data gathering are required to characterize the variability of rock properties and to determine the size and recoverable potential of the discovery, Shell said in the statement.

Shell is the operator of PEL 0039 with a 45 percent working interest. QatarEnergy also holds a 45 percent stake and Namcor holds the remaining 10 percent interest.

“We are encouraged by a further deepwater discovery, our third in Namibia, and pleased to confirm the safe conclusion of the well,” Dennis Zekveld, Shell’s Country Chair in Namibia, said in a company statement.

“Jonker again demonstrated the joint venture’s strong commitment to advancing oil and gas exploration in Namibia and to progressing follow-up opportunities after last year’s discoveries,” he added.

“We look forward to continuing our excellent collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Namibia,” he continued.

Commenting on the find, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs and the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said, “we are pleased with this encouraging discovery”.

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our partners Shell and Namcor, and to congratulate and thank the Government of the Republic of Namibia, which has been very supportive of this exploration effort,” he added.

Also commenting on the discovery, Victoria Sibeya, Namcor’s executive of upstream exploration, said, “Namcor would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our partners Shell and QatarEnergy for safely drilling the Jonker-1X deepwater well”.

“The encouraging results from the well are a geological testimony of the significant hydrocarbon potential in the deepwater play of the Orange Basin,” Sibeya added.

“We look forward to the appraisal activities and our collaborative relationship with our Joint Venture partners and our shareholder, the Government of the Republic of Namibia, to fully assess the commerciality of this discovery,” Sibeya continued.

Immanuel Mulunga, the managing director of Namcor, said, “this discovery has proven the exciting and world-class potential of the deepwater Orange Basin”.

Back in April 2022, Shell announced that it had completed drilling its first exploration well - Graff-1 - in PEL 0039. In a company statement at the time, Zekveld said, “we’re very encouraged by the early results from the deepwater Graff-1 exploration well, which established a working petroleum system and the presence of light oil”.

In the same announcement, Shell revealed that it had made a second Orange Basin discovery in the La Rona-1 prospect in PEL 0039 in April 2022. The well confirmed hydrocarbon pay at multiple levels, Shell noted at the time.

The Shell brand has been present in Namibia since 1975, according to Shell’s website, which notes that,  since 2012, Shell-branded fuels and lubricants have been marketed and distributed by the company’s exclusive licensee, Vivo Energy Namibia. Since 2014, Shell has also been exploring for oil and natural gas offshore of Namibia, completing three seismic surveys between 2014 and 2019, the company’s website states.

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