Chevron widens its oil & gas footprint in Namibia with operatorship of two offshore blocks

Chevron Namibia Exploration Limited (CNEL), an affiliate of the U.S.-headquartered energy giant Chevron, has enriched its offshore oil and gas portfolio in Africa with the entrance into a new license off the coast of Namibia, which enables the firm to take over the operator helm at two blocks.

Thanks to an agreement, effective April 28, Chevron will enter into petroleum exploration license 82 (PEL 82) by assuming an 80% working interest and operatorship. As a result, the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) and Custos Energy will each maintain a 10% carried interest in PEL 82 with Canada’s Sintana Energy holding an indirect 49% interest in Custos.  

Knowledge Katti, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Custos, and Director of Sintana, commented: “We are pleased to announce the continuing expansion of our in-country partnership with Chevron through their entry in PEL 82.  

“This is one of the most advanced and interesting opportunities offshore Namibia outside of the Orange Basin. We are pleased to see our efforts over the last decade on PEL 82 result in this important step forward adding further to Namibia’s world class offshore opportunity.”

Governing blocks 2112B and 2212A offshore Namibia, PEL 82 is said to be one of the Walvis Basin’s most attractive opportunities, with approximately 70% of the total block area covered by existing seismic, including over 3,500 km of 2D and 9,500 km2 of 3D data. The previous drilling activity on the license entails the Murombe-1 and Wingat-1 wells.

According to Sintana, the drilling results confirmed the regional extension and presence of the Barremian-Aptian oil-prone source rock (Kudu shale). While the Murombe-1 penetrated the Baobab sands returning approximately 20% porosity, the Wingat-1 well recovered 38-41 degree API oil to the surface.

Robert Bose, CEO and Board Member of Sintana, remarked: “The expanding partnership with Chevron in Namibia speaks to the quality of our Namibian portfolio. The timeliness of our entry and the unmatched nature of our portfolio continue to be demonstrated as Namibia emerges as the world’s next great hydrocarbon province.”

This comes shortly after Sintana Energy set the wheels into motion to get a hold of a stake in a new offshore license in Namibia through a deal with Crown Energy to expand its exposure to the African country’s Orange Basin.

On the other hand, Chevron is divesting some of its assets, as confirmed by a deal with Trident Energy for the entire issued share capital of Chevron Overseas (Congo) Limited, which holds a 31.5% non-operated working interest in the Moho-Bilondo, Nkossa, Nsoko II fields, and a 15.75% operated interest in the Lianzi field.

The U.S. player also recently signed an agreement to assume a 60% operated interest in Uruguay’s AREA OFF-1 offshore exploration block, subject to customary closing conditions.