Westmount Energy says offshore Namibia looks to be at the early part of the creaming curve with the potential to discover additional large-scale advantaged oil resources.
Gerard Walsh, Westmount Energy chairperson, said in the final results report released on 9 November 2023 that upstream investment could reach US$528b in 2023, focusing on a 60% increase between 2022 and 2030.
“Exploration hotspots in the deepwater Guyana-Suriname Basin, offshore Guyana and the Orange, offshore Namibia, are two areas well positioned to capture their share of the increased exploration spending between 2022 and 2030,” Walsh said.
Westmount Energy holds an indirect interest in Blocks 2913B under PEL 56 and 2912 under PEL 91 on the Orange Basin via its shareholding in Africa Oil Corp.
Westmont acquired the shareholding on 9 June 2023 to offer liquid exposure for exploration, appraisal drilling and testing underway on the Venus light oil and associated gas discovery.
Africa Oils Corp has a 31% interest in Impact Oil & Gas, which holds a 20% interest in Block 2913B together with TotalEnergies 40%, QatarEnergy 30% and Namcor 10%.
In Block 2912, Impact Oil & Gas has an 18.89% interest, TotalEnergies 37,78%, QatarEnergy 28,33% and Namcor 15%.
Venus-1X well, discovered on 224 February 2022, is on Block 2913B.
The companies have also embarked on a multi-well drilling and testing program targeting four wells on Block 2913B and 2912.
In addition, the companies are re-entering, sidetracking and testing the Venus-1X discovery well, drilling and testing the Venus-1A appraisal well, drilling and potential testing of the Nara-1X exploration well on Block 2912 and a contingent appraisal well at Nara-1A.
“Less than two years, this initial wave of deepwater exploration in the Orange Basin has, to date, yielded a total of five oil discoveries – Graff-1X, Venus-1X, La Rona-1X, Jonker-1X and Lesedi-1X – from seven exploration wells, with an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil in place and nine trillion cubic feet of associated gas discoveries since early 2022,” Walsh said.
According to Walsh, Namcor estimates Graff-1X to hold 2,38bbl of oil and Wood MacKenzie’s separate estimate of 700mmbl recoverable oil.
Walsh said Namcor’s Venus-1X estimate was 5.1bbls of oil.
