ReconAfrica said all regulatory permits required for production testing at its Kavango West 1X oil discovery have now been secured for both the company and its service providers as the explorer moves closer to a critical testing phase in Namibia’s Kavango Basin.
The Canadian oil and gas company announced on Thursday that equipment, trucks and technical crews are already arriving on site ahead of the planned downhole testing programme, which remains scheduled to begin before the end of May.
ReconAfrica said cement bond log testing is expected to start at the end of this week. In contrast, perforation and flow testing operations are scheduled to commence once the final service equipment arrives on site.
The company estimates that production testing at Kavango West 1X could take up to 60 days, with individual reservoir zones potentially requiring up to 10 days each to evaluate pressure, reservoir quality, and hydrocarbon flow potential.
ReconAfrica also confirmed that the production casing has been set to the well’s total depth, meaning the wellbore could be converted into a future production well if commercial flow rates are confirmed during testing.
The operational update formed part of the company’s first-quarter filings for the period ended March 31, 2026.
ReconAfrica said it has already started preparing the next appraisal stage of the Kavango Basin programme following completion of the production tests at Kavango West 1X.
Permitting applications and site preparations are now underway for the planned Kavango West 2A appraisal well.
The company continues positioning the Kavango Basin as a potentially significant new petroleum province spanning Namibia, Botswana and Angola.
Beyond Namibia, ReconAfrica also announced that it has started reprocessing 3D seismic data on the Ngulu Block offshore Gabon as it expands its regional exploration activities.
During the quarter, the company completed an upsized financing raising about US$36.8 million through the issuance of nearly 38.7 million units priced at US$0.95 each.
ReconAfrica also received a one-year extension of the second renewal exploration period for Petroleum Exploration Licence 073 in Namibia, bringing the licence period to January 29, 2027.
The company further reported receiving approximately US$2.4 million from warrant exercises during the quarter and an additional US$2.5 million after the end of the quarter.
ReconAfrica currently holds petroleum licences and exploration acreage covering about 13 million contiguous acres across Namibia, Angola and Botswana, as well as offshore acreage in Gabon.
The company said it remains committed to minimising environmental disturbance and maintaining international environmental and social standards during its exploration activities.
