Canadian-listed Oregen Energy Corp. has appointed veteran petroleum geoscientist Philip Birch as strategic advisor as the company advances plans to evaluate an entry into Namibia’s Orange Basin through Block 2812Ab, located directly adjacent to the Venus oil discovery operated by TotalEnergies.
The appointment follows Oregen’s April 2026 announcement that it had signed a non-binding letter of intent to evaluate an opportunity in Petrovena Energy, its Namibian partner, which has received an award letter to enter into a petroleum agreement and secure a licence over Block 2812Ab.
The offshore block lies next to TotalEnergies’ Block 2913B, also known as PEL 56, which hosts the Venus discovery, one of the world’s largest offshore oil discoveries in recent years.
Oregen said Block 2812Ab lies within the same Upper Cretaceous deep-marine clastic fairway as Venus and other Orange Basin discoveries, giving it strong geological read-through to a proven petroleum system as the basin moves toward development planning and potential final investment decisions.
Birch most recently served as exploration director at Impact Oil & Gas, where he played a central role in building the company’s Namibia offshore portfolio and in identifying and maturing the Venus prospect, which TotalEnergies successfully drilled in 2022.
At Impact, Birch helped secure the Namibia offshore licences, de-risk the Venus prospect and structure the farm-out agreement to TotalEnergies ahead of the landmark discovery well.
He retired from the Impact Oil & Gas board in 2025 after the further farm-down of the asset and the advancement of development planning.
As a strategic advisor, Birch will support Oregen with exploration strategy, subsurface evaluation, seismic interpretation, prospect generation, and technical positioning, particularly for Block 2812Ab and the wider Orange Basin fairway.
Oregen chief executive Mason Granger said the company’s decision to pursue the block was driven by its proximity to Venus and its location within the same geological trend.
“Our decision to pursue an investment in Block 2812Ab was driven by its direct adjacency to the Venus discovery and its position within the same proven geological fairway.
“Philip Birch was the key technical architect behind Venus, and his involvement with Oregen directly reflects our significant commitment to our strategy in the Orange Basin,” Granger said.
“Philip’s experience in building, de-risking, and advancing one of the world’s most important offshore petroleum provinces gives us a level of technical perspective and credibility that is exceptionally rare for a company at our stage.”
Birch described Oregen’s planned entry into Block 2812Ab as a logical extension of the Orange Basin play system.
Oregen’s entry into Block 2812Ab is a highly logical and compelling extension of the Orange Basin play system. The block sits directly on trend with PEL 56 and benefits from substantial geological read-through from nearby discoveries,” Birch said.
“I am pleased to be joining Oregen at this stage and look forward to supporting the Company as it evaluates and advances its Orange Basin portfolio in a disciplined and technically rigorous manner.”
Photo credit: IMPACT OIL & GAS
