By Benjamin Wickham
London, July 12 – Shell plc (LON: SHEL) announced on Wednesday that it had successfully completed drilling a fourth exploration well, Lesedi-1X, in Namibia’s offshore Block 2913B. The well-encountered hydrocarbons and further evaluation is required to determine the development potential.
Shell and its partners, QatarEnergy and Namibia’s national oil company NAMCOR, plan to drill two further wells in Namibia by the third quarter of this year. The company has also applied for a licence to drill another 10 exploration and appraisal wells in Namibia.
The Lesedi-1X well is the latest in a series of oil and gas discoveries made by Shell and other companies off the coast of Namibia in recent years. In February 2022, TotalEnergies made an oil discovery in the Venus well in Namibia’s Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) 56. Analysts at Barclays estimate that the Venus well holds 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
Shell has also made discoveries in the Graff, La Rona, and Jonker wells in PEL 39. These wells together are estimated to hold 1.7 billion boe, according to Barclays.
The discoveries in Namibia have the potential to transform the country’s economy. Namibia is currently a net importer of oil, and the discoveries could provide a significant source of revenue for the country.
Shell’s announcement is a positive development for the Namibian oil and gas industry. The company’s continued investment in the country is a sign of its confidence in the potential of the region.
– Namibia Daily News
