The Namibia Petroleum Operators Association (NAMPOA) says exploration companies have sunk in over N$30 billion in the country since independence.
“The process of exploration is hugely complex and high risk. 8 out of 10 exploration ventures fail commercially,” said the association – a grouping of 12 oil companies operating in Namibia, which functions as an interface between the industry, Government and society.
NAMPOA noted that collecting seismic data, which is then used to help determine if there are any prospective locations to drill for oil or gas that takes between two and five months to complete, can cost between N$$300 million- N$900 million per survey.
“Exploration Drilling, which confirms the presence and type of petroleum can cost between N$$600 million and N$1.5 billion per well, with total development costs coming in at between N$$80 billion and N$300 billion and this includes building the offshore and onshore infrastructure to produce petroleum.
“First revenues are typically generated 10-15 years after exploration commences. Fields generally produce for 20-40 years.”
According to data provided by NAMPOA, there are currently 32 exploration licenses in issue in the country, of which 20 are for operators, three are Reconnaissance Licenses and one is a production licence.
This is in sharp contrast to 2004, were there were only two exploration Licenses and one production license.
The increased interest in Namibia’s oil and gas sector comes as the National Petroleum Company of Namibia (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 last month announced the Venus-1X discovery, located approximately 290 kilometres off the coast of Namibia, in the deep-water offshore exploration Block 2913B, which covers approximately 8,215 km².
Shell in February is reported to have begun spudding an appraisal well on its major Graff oil discovery offshore Namibia, a find that could contain about 400 million barrels of oil.
