Calima Energy awarded acreage off Namibia

Calima Energy has been awarded a petroleum agreement for offshore Block 2813B in the Orange River Basin off Namibia.

Calima said on Thursday that the award was made following an application to the relevant authorities representing the Government of Namibia.

According to the company, the agreement for the block, which covers an area of 5,344 km2, has an initial investment term of four years.

During the first year of the initial term, the company will undertake an evaluation of the existing data in, an around, the block.

Over the four years of the initial term, Calima has committed to acquire 2D or 3D seismic data and undertake a detailed prospectivity review.

The company also stated that the investment obligations associated with the agreement are comfortably within Calima’s financial capabilities.

Calima’s core focus in the short-term remains upon the Montney Formation in British Columbia, where the company plans to drill several wells later in the year.

“Together with Calima’s other portfolio assets in Western Sahara and Comoros, this project has the potential to generate real shareholder value with only modest investment of capital. Namibia has recently experienced a significant upsurge in industry interest following some encouraging drilling results which demonstrated the presence of thick oil-prone, mature source rocks and high-quality sandstone reservoirs,” the company.

Over the last six months Exxon, Total, Tullow, ONGC, Africa Energy Corporation, and BW Offshore all farmed-in to projects offshore Namibia and over the next twelve months at least four deepwater wells are expected to be drilled.

Calima added that had Total farmed-in to the acreage immediately south of Block 2813B in October 2017 and, over the next 12 months, Shell might drill two wells in acreage immediately to the southeast.

Alan Stein, Calima’s managing director, said: “This offers us participation in a world-class exploration play with only a modest initial investment in new seismic data. There are a number of exploration wells due to be drilled in adjacent acreage which will provide valuable information to assist Calima’s forward investment strategy. The initial four-year period for seismic acquisition and evaluation complements our core activities in Western Canada where the company will be drilling several wells in its Montney project later in the year.”

The Orange Basin of southern Namibia is a frontier hydrocarbon province with commensurate levels of exploration risk, however, the data available suggests that all the necessary elements of a major petroleum province should be present.

Interests in the Block 2813B petroleum agreement are Calima Energy 56% (Operator), Trago Energy 20%, Harmattan Energy Ltd 14%, NAMCOR 10%.