Spaniard’s to start multi-million dollar drilling offshore

The Spanish Oil and gas company Repsol Namibia, with its partners Tower Resources and Arcadia Expro Namibia will start with drilling of the Welwitchia-1well in their license blocks, 1810A, 1911 and 2011A offshore Namibia around 14 April.
This was revealed last week, 29 March during a visit to the drill-ship on the Walvis bay harbour. The delegation consisted of the Minister of Mines and Energy, Spanish Ambassador to Namibia, Namcor and senior Repsol management from Spain.
The Economist got an insight of what the project might cost when it spoke to Immanuel Mulunga, Namibia’s petroleum commissioner at the Ministry of Mines and Energy. He stated that the drilling project might amount to a colossal N$953 million (US$90 million)-N$1.3 billion (US$125 million).
“The drilling is expected to be completed towards the end of May 2014, with hopes of a commercial discovery this time around. Although this is the only well to be drilled this year, this well will be the 7th offshore well to be drilled in country since 2008 and the 22nd to be drilled offshore Namibia since exploratory drilling started here in 1974” stated a release issued by Ten Hasheela Chief Public Relations Officer, Ministry of Mines and Energy.

“The well will be drilled by the brand new drillship by the name of Rowan Renaissance which Repsol has contracted for a period of 3 years to drill its Namibian well and its other wells around the world. License 0010 was one of the first licenses issued in 2005 and has seen a change in ownership several times. It was initially issued to Neptune Petroleum who later brought in Arcadia Petroleum, who after a successful 3D seismic campaign, in turn brought in Repsol.”said the ministry.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy has been very aggressive in its promotion and licensing efforts in the last 10 years with thousands of 2D and 3D seismic data having been shot over the lengths and breaths of the EEZ such that there is hardly a block that hasn’t been intersected by a seismic line offshore Namibia. Over the same period US$1 billion has been spent in Namibia on oil and gas exploration.
Last year the first oil sample in the country was discovered by a Brazilian Oil and Gas Company HRT, though not commercially viable, proving the existence of two mature source rocks in the oil generating window thus confirming that there is an active petroleum system in the basins where the wells were drilled. This has attracted additional interest from other big exploration companies such as Tullow, Shell, Murphy, OMV and Impact who have all recently farmed in into various blocks in Namibia over the past few months.
“We expect more international oil companies to enter Namibia in the next few months to come and participate in 3D seismic surveys and drilling of more wells. Even in the unfortunate event that the Welwitschia-1 well comes up dry the country is at least assured of more drilling of exploratory wells in the foreseeable future.”added the ministry.