Repsol has announced the spudding of its Namibian oilwell, located in Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) area 0010
According to the Spanish, operator, the three-year long contract for Rowan Renaissance drillship officially started on 22 April 2014 at an effective day rate of US$619,000 during the first year.
The Welwitschia-1 prospect is reportedly targeting net risked recoverable resources of 496mn barrels of oil equivalent and will intersect up to five separate reservoir targets ranging from the Palaeocene-Maastrichtian to the Albian Carbonate sequence at a potential total depth of 3,000 metres. Repsol said that it expects the operation to take up to 46 days.
It is believed to have multi-billion barrel upside potential, with partner Tower Resources targeting net risked recoverable resources of 496mn barrels of oil equivalent based on its 30 per cent interest in the block, held by local subsidiary Neptune Petroleum.
