Oil resource uplift comes to light in Namibian offshore basin’s ‘sweet spot’

GEO Exploration, formerly Global Petroleum, an AIM-listed oil and gas upstream exploration company presently focused on Africa and the Mediterranean, has revealed an uptick in unrisked prospective resources within its petroleum exploration license (PEL) 94 in the Walvis Basin, off the coast of Namibia.

While disclosing the results of an independent geoscience evaluation of PEL 94’s Block 2011A offshore Namibia, GEO explains that the study has greatly enhanced the firm’s understanding of the potential in the eastern portion of the license. Two new sandstone leads, Emerald in the Albian and Beryl in the Cenomanian, have been identified, confirming substantial upside and a materially de‑risked resource base.

According to the company, the evaluation concludes that these two leads contain 792 million barrels of oil equivalent (bbl) of unrisked gross mean prospective resources, with 726 million bbl attributable to Emerald and 66 million bbl to Beryl. Considering GEO’s 78% working interest, this is perceived to equate to 618 million bbl of net mean resources, with the assigned weighted geological risk factor yielding 103 million bbl of risk-adjusted net mean resources.

As a result, the upgraded numbers, which lift the license-wide unrisked gross mean prospective resources on PEL 94 to approximately 4.31 billion barrels, represent a 23% boost over the 3.52 billion barrels announced on March 27, 2023. GEO’s share on a risked net basis has grown by roughly 32% to 429 million bbl. The water depth is around 750 meters at the location of the identified leads.

Furthermore, the firm elaborates that seismic mapping has delineated robust, dip and fault‑bounded structural closures, with the seismic data interpretation highlighting direct hydrocarbon indicators in the area, including gas chimneys and flat spots, providing what is deemed to be strong evidence for an active petroleum system, migration of hydrocarbons throughout the section and therefore increasing the chance that the leads are charged with oil.  

Omar Ahmad, Chief Executive Officer of GEO Exploration, commented: “Today’s resource upgrade underscores the tremendous potential we see in PEL 94 and the strong conviction we have in our Namibian licence.

“Our technical team has done a terrific job delivering new, material leads on the eastern side of the block. With excitement building across Namibia-and particularly in the Walvis Basin-we are actively progressing farm-out discussions to secure the best outcome for our shareholders.” 

Covering 5,798 square kilometers, the license area sits within the Walvis Basin’s ‘sweet‑spot,’ an area seen as benefiting from improved charge maturity modelling, as recent discoveries in the Orange Basin to the south – such as Venus, Mopane, and Capricornus – highlight the prolific nature of Namibia’s Atlantic margin.

TotalEnergies and its partners are advancing the Venus field development in Block 2913B within PEL 56, with the final investment decision (FID) targeted in early 2026.