Shell and Kosmos Energy have just completed a 3D seismic campaign in a block off Namibia where the latter recently farmed in, with the partners’ eyes on drilling after next year, writes Eoin O’Cinneide.

“We have just finished, as of this week, a 3D programme of about 30 or 40 days,”

Kosmos vice president of exploration Tracey Henderson told Upstream late last week.

Kosmos recently farmed into the Anglo-Dutch supermajor’s operated block PEL 39 in the southern part of the Orange basin, with each now on 45% and state player Namcor on 10%.

The deal is part of a wider alliance between the companies, which is also set to see Shell enter Kosmos acreage in Sao Tome & Principe.

“Generally we take about a year to process the data — at least six months, sometimes longer than that, which we may do.

“We will spend some time interpreting the data and maturing the prospects along with Shell as to what will come in first,” Henderson said of drilling, which is possible in 2020.

The block is said to have attracted interest from other suitors — including Australia’s Woodside Petroleum — before Kosmos closed the deal. Both the US independent and Woodside are known to have been drawn by the clastics play on the block.

“It was a really good marriage of skill sets with Shell, because we obviously have expertise in clastics along the margin,” Henderson said.

“Shell has a good deal of expertise in carbonates, which is not one of our strengths. Both play types are in PEL 39 and I think both play types will get drilled — it is a matter of which first and timing, but there are some very nice carbonate prospects there, so I cannot imagine we will not drill those.”

Namibia has seen a number of dry holes drilled recently, with Tullow Oil biting dust at the Cormorant-1 well and Chariot Oil & Gas striking out soon after at the Prospect S wildcat.

“Oddly enough, to have several dry holes in it, it is an area that is still garnering a good deal of attention,” Henderson said.

“A lot of them on that margin are trap failures. If you feel like the well gave you everything else, you just have to go out and define prospects that have a more robust trap.” Many of the failed wells this decade have been in the Walvis basin to the north.

“The Orange basin is definitely more underexplored, but some of the wells have actually shown that there could be a mature oil source rock there that has not really been fully explored, or understood. It is early days, it is still very frontier and concept driven,” Henderson said.

“Even some of the wells in the Walvis saw oil shows that were new source rock that had not really been fully recognised, and demonstrated that there was potential for oil and not just gas, like you see at the Kudu field.

“So it is trying to figure out the distribution and maturity of that oil play, and so we feel better about that than we do in the Walvis.”

Weekly

Pair finish seismic survey off Namibia and set sights on drilling work