Shell announced its oil discovery off Namibia in January and was “very encouraged by the early results” from the Graff-1 exploration well in the country’s Orange Basin, which “established a working petroleum system and the presence of light oil.”
Researchers at Wood Mackenzie believe the find could hold upward of 700 million BOE. Shell is currently drilling a second well at La Rona, an aggressive stepout which is likely to be appraising the discovery prior to confirmation of a potential commercial development.
Shell operates the Graff find with a 45% interest. Partners in the discovery are QatarEnergy (45%) and NAMCOR (10%).
Less than a month after Graff was announced, TotalEnergies reported that it had made a significant discovery of light oil with associated gas on the Venus prospect, in Block 2913B in the Orange Basin. The Venus 1-X well encountered around 84 m of net oil pay in a Lower Cretaceous reservoir. No resource estimates have been officially released.