Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica) says it has been granted an Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) to commence drilling 12 additional exploration and appraisal wells, to unrestricted depths, in the Kavango Basin.
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism’s licence is approved from 4 July 2023 until 4 July 2026.
The ECC, which is issued by the Office of the Environmental Commissioner in the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, covers the entire PEL73 permit in northeast Namibia that stretches over 6.3 million acres (25,000 square kilometres).
“The primary objective of the upcoming drilling programme is to establish commercial accumulations of oil and or natural gas and natural gas liquids which were identified in the first three stratigraphic test wells,” ReconAfrica Chief Executive Officer Scot Evans said.
He added that the management’s current focus in the third and fourth quarters of 2023 is developing and prioritising its prospect inventory in order to execute a multi-well drilling programme targeting both primary plays.
“The Damara Fold Belt and the Karoo Rift Basin, with initial emphasis on the Damara Fold Belt as detailed in the company’s 26 June 2023 news release.”
This comes after in August 2022 the government granted Recon a three-year extension on its ECC.
That ECC authorises ReconAfrica to continue drilling stratigraphic test wells, to depths, approved by the Ministry of Mines and Energy and National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) as well as completing a sidetrack of the Company’s first well, Kawe 6-2, in the Kavango Basin.
The extended ECC, which is valid from 26 August 2022 until 26 August 2025, was approved on 11 August 2022.
“The extension further demonstrates how ReconAfrica is working collaboratively with our interested and impacted stakeholders in Namibia including local and national government entities/representatives, as well as with the Traditional Authorities, as we pursue the commercial development of the Kavango Basin. The extension enables the Company to plan and execute our current stratigraphic drilling and sidetrack programs,” Evans then said.
ReconAfrica is a Canadian oil and gas company engaged in the opening of the newly discovered deep Kavango Sedimentary Basin in the Kalahari Desert of northeastern Namibia and northwestern Botswana, where the Company holds petroleum licences comprising 8 million contiguous acres.
