The development means the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed petroleum and natural gas exploration company and its partners will now move to drill an exploration well in PEL 83 in the Orange basin, offshore Namibia next year.
PEL 83 sits directly above Block 2913A, where Shell plc made its Graff-1 light oil discovery, and directly to the west of the Kudu Gas field currently being developed by BW Energy. Businessman Knowledge Katti, a founder of Custos Energy and a Director of Sintana, said the companies are looking forward to making significant oil discoveries. Sintana has four carried interests through its indirect investment in Custos Energy, with Galp Energy SGPS SA being the operator of PEL 83 with an 80% interest, National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) 10% and Custos Energy 10%.
The increased interest in Namibia exploration activities comes after NAMCOR and its partners, Shell Namibia Upstream B. V and Qatar Energy, are said to have discovered a working petroleum system for light oil in the Orange Basin, 270 km from the town of Oranjemund, where drilling operations commenced in early December 2021 and were safely completed in early February 2022.
The company’s other partners, TotalEnergies, alongside QatarEnergy, and Impact Oil and Gas have also announced the Venus-1X discovery, located approximately 290 kilometers off the coast of Namibia, in the deep-water offshore exploration Block 2913B, which covers approximately 8,215 km².