Agreement has been reached between joint venture partners to drill an exploration well on the Cormorant prospect in Namibia.
The development has a targeted spud date of 1 September 2018 and is thought to hold 124 million barrels of oil, with 915 million estimated across four sites.
The PEL 37 licence off the Namibian coastline is a partnership agreement between operator, Tullow Oil, ONGC Videsh, Paragon Oil and Gas and Pancontinental Namibia.
According to Pancontinental Namibia, Tullow has already commenced drilling preparations of which Pancontinental will have an effective 20% carried uncapped through drilling.
John Begg, Pancontinental CEO, said: “This is an exciting time for Pancontinental. We now have confirmation of the much anticipated drilling in Namibia. Currently we are also testing a potentially significant new gas discovery in California and we have commenced an appraisal well to evaluate another large gas discovery there.
“The Cormorant Prospect was unanimously selected by the PEL 37 Joint Venture as the first test of a series of large oil-prone prospects in PEL 37 that have been mapped by operator Tullow using high “quality 3D seismic.
“These submarine fan plays are analogous to successful large, commercial oil finds elsewhere along the African coast, triggering ongoing interest in offshore Namibia from major oil companies and Africa specialist players. This is amply demonstrated by the entry since mid-2017 of ONGC Videsh into the PEL 37 joint venture, Africa Energy’s entry as a shareholder in Pancontinental Namibia and the farmin of French oil major Total into a block to the south”.