Kudu reserves higher than anticipated
Floating production system commissioned
The Kudu gas project is anticipated to address Namibia's pressing energy needs.
Petroleum commissioner Maggy Shino says ongoing studies at the Kudu gas field have indicated it holds more than 1.3 trillion cubic feet of gas resources.Shino made the remarks during the recent Economic Association of Namibia’s oil and gas conference and said additional data was pointing to a bigger gas find than previously thought.
“What we are seeing is that additional data has been acquired this year, which has shown that for the Kudu project, the upside potential is even more than the 1.3 trillion cubic feet that we are seeing,” Shino said.
Work had been done to exploit the Kudu well to deliver gas resources onshore, she added.
“We have been preparing to go into production in this field; the floating production facilities have been established. In fact, it has already been commissioned and is coming to Namibia, and pipeline and shore crossing surveys have been done,” she said.
Shino indicated that a subsurface power plant would be established to generate electricity, while studies have been conducted on how the electricity produced would be brought onshore.
“We also have a subsurface power plant that we are going to put up, and an overland study on the pipeline has concluded,” she said.
Address supply gaps
The project will help address Namibia’s energy supply problems, Shino stressed.
“The Kudu project is still ongoing. A lot of work has been done in terms of how it is going to close the energy demand and supply gaps,” she said.
The Kudu gas discovery is located in the northern Orange sub-basin, approximately 130 km off the south-west coast of Namibia. It is situated in petroleum production license area 003, which covers an area of 4 567 square kilometres, and the field water depth is approximately 170 meters. The field was discovered in 1974 with Kudu-1 and is delineated by seven subsequent wells.
BW Energy entered into a farm-in agreement for a 56% operating interest in early 2017, with the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) holding a 44% joint venture interest. BW Energy signed a farm-up agreement with Namcor, increasing the company’s interest to 95% in the license, and closed the transaction in 2021.