Kunene offshore drilling results announced soon
Written by By Toivo Ndjebela
Thursday, 26 June 2008

AN announcement concerning whether Sintezneftegaz has discovered oil and gas deposits along Namibia’s west coast is expected in around five weeks time, as offshore drilling activities by the Russian-owned company enter a third month.

Sintezneftegaz Namibia resumed its offshore drilling activities in early April, and according to the Petroleum Commissioner in the Ministry of Mines and Energy Immanuel Mulunga, the company will disclose the findings in around five weeks.

The exploration was commissioned for the Kunene #1 well in Block 1711, along the country’s coastline.

The operator, Sintezneftegaz Namibia, has entered into an agreement on behalf of the joint venture partners ExxonMobil, and Larsen Oil and Gas Ltd. Other partners, America’s EnerGulf and South Africa’s PetroSA, both with 10 percent stakes, while local entities Namcor (7 percent) and Kunene Energy (3 percent) also form part of the exploration consortium. Sintezneftegaz holds a 70 percent majority share.

Mulunga said the drilling work had progressed well so far. “The drill ship has been offshore since 9 April,” he told Informanté. He said the drill is targeting a depth of 4,400 meters below sea level, as the country strives to probe new dimensions in the search for its own energy sources.

The initial cost forecast for drilling the well stands at a staggering N$411 million, while stakeholders will need another N$74 million if they decide to penetrate further to a depth of 5,500 meters below sea level.

Block 1711 is situated in the Namib basin off the northern coast of Namibia, along the international border with Angola. A prospective resource assessment on Block 1711 predicts a potential multi-billion barrel oil and gas resource in the area.

Source: www.informante.web.na