Pancontinental Energy says PEL 87 in the Orange Basin could be holding a total high-case prospective resource estimated at 3.8 billion barrels of oil.
The company also says the total high-case oil-in-place resource is estimated at 12.7 billion barrels of oil.
The evaluation date for the prospective resources is March 17, 2025.
PEL 87, covering 10,970 km2, is situated on-trend with several significant hydrocarbon discoveries made recently by Galp Energia, TotalEnergies, and Shell.
However, Pancontinental Energy says these prospective resources are the estimated quantities of petroleum that may be recovered by applying a future development project related to undiscovered accumulations.
Furthermore, Pancontinental says these estimates have both an associated risk of discovery and a risk of development.
“Further exploration, appraisal and evaluation are required to determine the existence of a significant quantity of potentially recoverable hydrocarbons,” Pancontinental says.
Pancontinental Energy says it is refining the interpretation and engaging a specialist consultant to perform a rock physics-based seismic inversion to improve its understanding of the nature of individual reservoir sands and the potential fluid types.
“This work may result in a future revision to the stated prospective resources and risk and prospect/lead improved ranking,” the company says.
The release of the estimates of prospective resources represents the culmination of the interpretation and analysis effort on the US$35 million seismic dataset funded by Woodside Energy.
Pancontinental Energy has identified six more intra-Saturn Complex leads in addition to the Oryx and Hyrax on PEL 87 in the Orange Basin.
According to a statement this week, all leads exhibit Class II AVO anomalies, consistent with significant discoveries on-trend to the south at the Mopane Complex and Venus/Mangetti.
The Oryx Prospect
The Oryx Prospect is the older of the identified basin floor fans within the PEL 87 Saturn Complex, which exhibits an apparent Type II AVO amplitude anomaly.
The Oryx represents the largest connected sand body at up to 144 km2 of the prospect’s total area of over 500 km2.
The turbidite sands appear to be affected by blue water currents, with associated winnowing expected to “wash out” finer-grained sediments, potentially creating an extensive and high-quality reservoir system.
The central area is draped over a structural high that contains other overlying AVO anomalies assigned to the Calypso and Addax leads.
Hyrax Prospect
The Hyrax Prospect is located in the southern portion of the Saturn Complex and exhibits Type II AVO amplitude anomalies over a combined 400 km2 area.
The Hyrax reservoir target is slightly younger than at Oryx, and the turbiditic sands are believed to be more strongly affected by winnowing from blue water currents, with the redistributed coarse clastics displaying stacked geometries in several areas.
Oryx North and Calypso Leads
The Oryx North (161 km2) and Calypso (74 km2) AVO amplitude anomalies are mapped within the middle sequences distributed throughout the Saturn Complex. The brightest anomalies are located over the structural crest of the Oryx prospect.
There is evidence of scouring of the underlying substrate in the central areas.
In contrast, in the south over Hyrax, the sands appear to have been redistributed predominantly by blue water flows and currents.
Xerux Lead
Xerux is located in the central northern portion of the Saturn Complex, over 250 km2.
Type II AVO amplitude anomalies are evident within interpreted slope turbidites distributed throughout the middle sequences of Saturn, with scour and fill geometries strongly influenced by deep water currents.
Addax Leads
The Addax Channel and Addax Fan Leads comprise several AVO anomalies between 85 and 330 km2 in area, in the upper or latest stage of clastic reservoir deposition within the Saturn Complex.
These deep water turbidite systems are interpreted to have been deposited in a channelised slope bypass system.
Deep canyons scour the underlying substrate within the central depositional axis, and large overbank deposits are interpreted to have been deposited in the upper proximal areas.
The central turbidite bodies are interpreted within a base of slope fan system to the immediate northwest of the Saturn Complex.
Addax South
The Addax South lead is distributed over some 200 km2 in the uppermost sequence of the Saturn Complex, with the interpreted sands heavily influenced by winnowing and redistributed into lobes that overlay the Hyrax Prospect.
Pancontinental CEO Iain Smith says the estimates of prospective resources for the PEL 87 project demonstrate giant potential, with the figures comparing favourably to significant discoveries on-trend to the south.
“These results stand the company in good stead as we progress our farmout program to secure a farminee for exploration drilling at the earliest opportunity,” Smith says.
Pancontinental director Barry Rushworth says these results verify the Saturn Complex as an attractive exploration play, particularly given the significant size of the targets and major discoveries that continue to be made to the south within a comparable geological setting.
The PEL 87, the only permit not held by an oil and gas major, has an extensive 3D seismic dataset.
The joint venture of Pancontinental (75%), Custos Energy (15%) and Namcor (10%) received the permit in early 2018 for up to three terms over eight years plus subsequent extensions.
The licence may be converted to a production licence under pre-agreed terms.
PEL 87 is within the first renewal exploration period that commenced on January 23 2024, and will end on January 22 2026.
This period includes an associated work commitment to drill one exploration well or, if a drillable prospect is not identified, acquire either 500 km2 of 3D seismic data or 1,000 line km of 2D seismic data.
