Chevron says no commercial oil, gas found at Namibia exploration well
Tough luck
Chevron's Kapana X1 has turned up dry following exploration activity conducted
Chevron said on Wednesday it did not find commercial hydrocarbon reserves in an exploration well in Namibia's Orange Basin.The United States oil producer said the well called Kapana 1X in the petroleum exploration licence (PEL) 90 block provided valuable information about the basin and the company anticipated it would explore further in Namibia.
Oil companies have flocked to the African country, with recent offshore finds ranking among the largest this century, though exploration has been dealt some blows.
Shell said last week that it will write down about $400 million over an oil discovery offshore Namibia that it deemed commercially un-viable.
Namibia's national oil company said in April it signed a development deal with Chevron to have the company take an 80% operating working interest in an offshore block in the Walvis Basin.
The block 2813B is about 200 kilometres (km) offshore and 70 km north of the deepwater Venus discovery in which QatarEnergy is also a partner.
The license spans a 5 433-square kilometre area in water depths of 2 400 metres (m) to 3 300 m.
QatarEnergy in December 2024 agreed to acquire a 27.5% interest in the petroleum exploration license and petroleum agreement for Block 2813B (PEL90) offshore Namibia.
At the time, Harmattan Energy, an indirect subsidiary of Chevron, retained a 52.5% operated interest, according to Offshore Magazine.
The Oil and Gas Journal in November 2023 reported that Harmattan Energy filed for an application with the ministry of environment at the time, for an environmental clearance certificate for oil and gas exploration work in PEL 90 in Orange basin offshore Namibia.
The certificate would provide for the drilling of up to five exploration wells and five appraisal wells beginning in fourth-quarter 2024 on Block 2813B which is governed by PEL 90, said Sintana Energy, which is a 10% partner through is investment in InterOil, which holds a 49% indirect interest in Trago Energy, a 10% working interest owner in PEL 90.
In October 2022, Chevron Namibia closed a deal with Trago Energy for an 80% working interest in the license
-additional reporting by Oil and Gas Journal and Offshore Magazine