Shell is expected to decide in the fourth quarter of 2025 whether it will proceed with field development in Namibia’s offshore PEL 39 block, while Chevron moves closer to completing its seismic data interpretation in the Walvis Basin, a senior government official has confirmed.
“Shell and the partners are working very hard to calibrate the information they have on the nine wells that have been drilled,” said Petroleum Commissioner at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Maggy Shino.
She explained that Shell is incorporating data from a 10,000-square-kilometer seismic survey, covering nearly 90% of its block, into its development planning.
“We are now working together to ensure that we have designed a pathway towards development. By the fourth quarter of 2025, we will have a position in terms of the direction for developing the field,” Shino added.
The announcement comes amid Shell’s recent US$400 million impairment linked to its oil discovery offshore Namibia, citing challenges in finding a commercially viable development plan for the resource.
Meanwhile, Chevron has made progress since entering Namibia’s upstream sector, according to Shino.
The U.S.-based oil major acquired Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 90 and drilled the Kapana well, which Shino described as a “technical success.”
“Chevron has further progressed into acquiring another license within the Walvis Basin, which we call License 82, together with their partners Strato and Namcor,” Shino said.
She confirmed that the joint venture is now in the final stages of interpreting 3D seismic data collected in 2023.
“They are now really at the last stage of maturing that prospect,” she said.
Results from the Kapana well have provided valuable insights that will inform future drilling efforts across both PEL 90 and PEL 82.
In January, Chevron announced that it did not find commercial hydrocarbon reserves in an exploration well in Namibia’s Orange Basin.
