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TotalEnergies EP South Africa (TEEPSA) plans to drill for oil and gas in the Deep Western Orange Basin (DWOB) off South Africa’s west coast, in waters bordering Namibia’s Orange Basin where major discoveries such as Venus and Graff have been made.
According to SLR Consulting Ltd., the exploration site is located 211 km offshore from Saldanha Bay in water depths ranging from 500 to 3,900 metres. TEEPSA is a client of SLR.
The company’s Area of Interest for exploration spans 15,000 sq km and includes plans to drill up to seven exploration or appraisal wells. The work programme will also include vertical seismic profiling (VSP), testing, and plugging and abandonment activities.
The 3,000 sq km DWOB block lies adjacent to Namibia’s petroleum licence area PEL 39, where TotalEnergies, Shell, Galp Energia SGPS SA, and Africa Oil Corp. have made significant discoveries.
The block is within the same Orange Basin geological setting as Namibia’s Venus and Graff finds, with prospectivity identified at two levels: deeper Aptian-aged basin floor fans, equivalent to the Venus discovery, and Upper Cretaceous leads similar to Graff, which share a common trapping mechanism with the Namibian reservoirs.
Before drilling can begin, TEEPSA must secure Environmental Authorisation from South Africa’s Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources.
TEEPSA holds a 40% operating interest in the DWOB block, alongside QatarEnergy (30%), Sezigyn Pty. (20%), and Petrobras (10%).
