Chevron is in discussions to enter Namibia’s offshore, Minister of Mines and Energy Tom Alweendo has said.
“We can confirm that Chevron have approached – they did not apply for a block themselves, it was a block that already had owners,” he said. “Chevron has approached those owners to buy into the block. Not their own application, to farm into an existing block that was already owned by someone.”
The minister said 32 wells had been drilled in Namibia. This year, TotalEnergies and Shell drilled two successful wells offshore, at Venus and Graff.
Reports in the Namibian press named Chevron as interested in Block 2813B, which PEL 90 covers.
Harmattan Energy has a 37.06% stake in the Orange Basin licence, while Trago Energy has 52.94% and Namcor 10%. Harmattan is the operator.
The licence covers 5,433 square km, with water depths of 2,300 to 3,300 metres.
PEL 90 lies to the north of the Venus discovery and northwest of Graff. Harmattan said it has identified “several prospective features”, in source rock proved by the Graff find. The next step would be acquiring 3D seismic on the area to shed more light on prospectivity.
Harmattan and Trago are both seeking a partner to enter the well and drill a wildcat exploration well, according to Farmout Angel. The prospect under discussion is an Albian basin floor fan.
Canada’s Calima Energy had held a stake in PEL 90 but sold it to Tullow Oil in October 2019 for $2 million. Tullow then relinquished its stake in January 2022, under its plans to focus on its core assets.