ReconAfrica drills Kavango West 1X well in Namibia

As drilling begins in the Kavango West 1X exploration well, Reconnaissance Energy Africa reports that this development was a reprioritisation following the Naingopo drilling 

Spud on July, the Kavango West 1X exploration prospect will be drilled to reach total depth of approximately 3,800 m by the end of November 2025. It will penetrate over 1,500 m of Otavi carbonate reservoir section, which is the primary target of the Damara Fold Belt play. Modern 2D seismic data shows the prospect as a large structural fold, extending over 22 kms long by 3 kms wide. The Damara Fold Belt trend has projected 19 prospects and four leads, with an additional 5.0 mn acres captured in a recently executed memorandum of understanding in offsetting Angola. 

Brian Reinsborough, president and CEO, said, “We are pleased to announce that we have started drilling the Kavango West 1X well. This is an exciting time for everyone at the company, our partners and stakeholders in Namibia and, of course, shareholders alike. Originally, the Kavango West 1X location was not scheduled to be the next well, but the location was reprioritised after the results of our last well, Naingopo. While this reprioritising resulted in a slightly longer lead time to spud this location, the company prioritises rigorous technical appraisal with respect to location selection to ensure we have the best possible chance for commercial success. We think that the Kavango West 1X prospect represents our best opportunity in the Damara Fold Belt to unlock the potential of this play and we look forward to reporting results expected before year-end 2025.”

Chris Sembritzky, senior vice president-exploration, said, “By utilising our learnings from the Naingopo well, Kavango West 1X represents the best opportunity we have identified on seismic in the Damara Fold Belt play due to its size, hydrocarbon migration pathway and well defined four-way closure. With our new subsurface learnings, highly experienced drilling crew and optimised, built for purpose drill bits, we believe that we have captured the best possible chance for drilling an efficient, safe and commercially successful well.”