Eco to farm in into Orange Basin block offshore South Africa

Oil and gas exploration company, Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd's subsidiary Azinam South Africa Limited will farm-in into Block 1 offshore South Africa Orange Basin 

With a 75% acquisition of the block from Tosaco Energy, Eco will become operator of a new Exploration Right. 

The remaining 25% will be transfered by Tosaco to a newly formed South African entity with a broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) rating, OrangeBasin Oil and Gas (Proprietary) Limited.

From Mopane to Venus wells, Block 1 is surrounded by rich discoveries. In March, Sintana Energy reported the third consecutive discovery of light oil in the Mopane complex. 

A triangular-shaped block in the Orange Basin, Block 1 runs along Namibia and South Africa by an area of 19,929 sq km. The eastern side of the block is approximately 174 km off the South African shoreline, reaching out some 263 km west into deepwater in the Orange Basin. 

Over the next three years, Eco, along with its in-house exploration team, will complete the interpretation and analysis of the already acquired 2D and 3D seismic data from the block. 

Strategic play

On the other hand, following the AJ-1 oil discovery post Gazania-1 drilling in 2022, the company has submitted all the documentation and environmental audits to the Petroleum Agency of South Africa to give up 50% of working interest offshore Block 2B in South Africa. Early this year, Eco transferred some of its interests in Block 3B/4B to Africa Oil Corp as well.

Colin Kinley, co-founder and chief operating officer of Eco Atlantic, said, "The Orange Basin continues to prove to be one of the newest and most prolific plays in the world and is running similar statistics to our Guyana play. Following completion of this farm-in, Eco will have one of the largest blocks in the entire Orange Basin. This is a strategic play for Eco that we have worked on over the past year, focusing on both oil and gas potential, and where we believe there are significant near-shore prospective gas resources. There are inboard gas discoveries on the block, Kudu to the North, and multiple discoveries in the Ibhubesi field to the South. With the reach of the block some 250km out into the Atlantic, this puts the West end of the Block into highly prospective opportunities for oil being just South and on trend with Shell's Graff discovery and Galp's Mopane discoveries, and North of our 3B/4B Block oil targets recently farmed out to TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy."