Portuguese energy company Galp Energia has discovered more oil and gas at Namibia’s Mopane field
The company reported this week that it had found significant presence of light oil and gas condensate in a fifth well, Mpane-3X, in Namibia's offshore Mopane field in block PEL83.
Galp's Mopane offshore discovery was initially estimated to hold at least 10bn barrels of oil and gas, opening up Nambia’s Orange Basin as a new frontier with global potential. The Portuguese company is operator of the offshore concession area with an 80% equity stakeholding, alongside its partners NAMCOR, the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia, and Custos Energy, an independent firm, each with 10%.
The Mopane-3X well was spudded on 2 January and has now been successfully drilled, cored and logged, the group said in a statement. Located 18 km from the first Mopane-1X well, the latest drilling targeted two stacked prospects, AVO-10 & AVO-13, and a deeper sand, in the southeast region of the Mopane complex, at around 1,200 metres water depth.
“Preliminary data confirm light oil and gas-condensate significant columns across AVO-10, and light oil columns on AVO-13 and on the deeper sand, in high-quality sandstones,” it noted. “The reservoirs log measures confirm good porosities, high pressures and high permeabilities. Initial fluid samples show low oil viscosity and minimum CO2 and H2S concentrations. Samples were sent for lab testing.”
Galp Energia also added that Mopane-3X showed higher-than-estimated pressures, and that these preliminary results “unlock further exploration and appraisal opportunities in the southeast region of Mopane.”
All acquired data will now be integrated into its reservoir model to support the planning of potential further activity. A proprietary 3D seismic acquisition campaign is also on track to be completed in Q1 2025, with the processing of the information to follow thereafter.
Knowledge Katti, chairman and CEO of Custos Energy, added that it marked another safe and successful drilling on what is rapidly becoming a world-class asset.
“These additional discoveries in an entirely new section of Mopane further demonstrate the scale and quality of the complex. An emerging clarity on the multi-phase potential of Mopane is underpinned by this world class asset,” he said. “We are uniquely positioned at the heart of this hydrocarbon province.”
At the end of 2024, Galp Energia announced the findings of the previous well, Mopane-2A, also in PEL83, which found a hydrocarbon column of gas-condensate in AVO-3 with a thin net pay in the reservoir sweet spot. The well also discovered a hydrocarbon column of light oil in a smaller reservoir, AVO-4.
Read more:
Mopane records good hydrocarbons presence yet again
Galp Energia strikes again in Namibia
Namibia's offshore has become hot property. (Image source: Adobe Stock)
