Pancontinental Energy NL has identified two new oil prospects, Phoebe West and Northern Channel, within its PEL 87 licence in Namibia’s Orange Basin.
The discoveries follow detailed quantitative interpretation and seismic inversion studies that analysed Lambda Rho and Density (Rho) data derived from three-dimensional seismic surveys, which revealed geological and fluid indicators consistent with oil-bearing formations.
The company said the Phoebe West prospect is estimated to hold best-case prospective resources of 400 million barrels and a high case of 779 million barrels, while the Northern Channel prospect is estimated at 602 million barrels in the best-case scenario and 1.339 billion barrels in the high case, both net to Pancontinental.
Together with previously identified structures in the Saturn Complex, the total high-case prospective resources within PEL 87 now amount to about 6.1 billion barrels of oil net to the company.
The Northern Channel prospect lies at the northern limit of the PEL 87 three-dimensional seismic survey area, where three stacked, channelised turbidite reservoir sequences have been mapped.
These are supported by sequence stratigraphy and quantitative interpretation studies.
The upper and middle channels are interpreted as high net-to-gross coarse sand systems, comparable in age and character to those observed at the Oryx prospect, and they display strong Type III and Type II amplitude versus offset anomalies.
The Mid-Aptian unconformity forms the base of these clastic reservoirs. The southern flank of the Northern Channel sits on a structural high that provides a potential trap and migration focus for hydrocarbons generated from the mature Kudu source kitchen to the east.
Pancontinental noted that similar slope-channel plays have been successfully proven in comparable settings along the West African margin.
Phoebe West lies directly on top of the Kudu source rock sequence and targets the lower Albian basin-floor turbidite sands that stretch across PEL 87, draping over volcanic highs along the outer rift margin.
The fan system shows amplitude anomalies that conform to structure and is regarded as the largest connected sand body mapped outside the Saturn Complex.
Pancontinental said deposition likely occurred contemporaneously with mass transport deposits that eroded into the underlying Kudu shale sequence, a setting consistent with high-quality reservoir development in deepwater environments.
Based on its current evaluations, the company estimates total original oil in place across all PEL 87 prospects to range between 13 billion and 29.6 billion barrels on a 100 per cent gross basis, with recoverable prospective resources estimated between 3.6 billion and 8.1 billion barrels.
On a 75 per cent net interest basis, Pancontinental’s share is estimated to be between 2.7 billion and 6.1 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
The company applied recovery factors of 25 to 30 per cent to derive these figures, with potential to increase as drilling and appraisal work progress.
The evaluation date for the current resource assessment is 24 July 2025.
Pancontinental said the resource estimates were prepared according to the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Petroleum Resources Management System and independently verified by technical consultant Ric Jason, a geoscientist with 33 years of experience in oil and gas exploration.
The company emphasised that the figures represent prospective resources, which are yet to be discovered and therefore subject to both exploration and development risk.
Additional exploration, appraisal and evaluation are required to determine the existence of commercial quantities of recoverable hydrocarbons.
Meanwhile, Pancontinental’s farmout process for PEL 87 remains active, with most shortlisted international groups having accessed the virtual data room.
The company continues to provide updated technical data as it becomes available and is engaging with interested partners to advance the project towards drilling.
Pancontinental said it would issue further announcements as material developments occur.
PEL 87 is located within Namibia’s Orange Basin, a region that has attracted significant international attention following major oil discoveries by TotalEnergies, Shell and Galp Energia.
Pancontinental’s latest findings reinforce the basin’s reputation as one of the world’s most promising frontier petroleum provinces.
