Santorini drillship (Credit: Saipem)
Galp and its partners have spudded another well in the Orange Basin, off Namibia, following the discovery of light oil and gas condensate in an appraisal well drilled earlier in November.
After the discovery at the Mopane-1A well, Galp and its PEL83 offshore block partners, NAMCOR and Custos, have decided to retain Saipem’s Santorini drillship to continue the ongoing exploration and appraisal campaign to avoid mobilization and de-mobilization costs.
Using the drillship, Galp has spudded the Mopane-2A in nearby AVO-3, while Mopane-3X is expected to be spud in early 2025 in AVOs 10 and 13, taking advantage of newly processed 3D seismic.
The upcoming activities also include a high-density and high-resolution proprietary 3D development seismic campaign over the Mopane complex set to start in December 2024, according to Sintana Energy, which indirectly holds 49% interest in Custos.
“The acceleration of operations in this second campaign is emblematic of the ongoing progress at Mopane. We look forward to the exploration and appraisal activities anticipated over coming months to further unveil its world class scale and quality,” said Robert Bose, Chief Executive Officer of Sintana.
Results of Mopane-1A noted that the well encountered light oil and gas-condensate in high-quality reservoir-bearing sands, once again indicating good porosities, high permeabilities, and high pressures, as well as low oil viscosity characteristics with minimum CO2 and no H2S concentrations.
Together with the Mopane-1X and Mopane-2X findings, the appraisal well confirmed the extension and quality of AVO-1 and supported the acceleration of the program.
Galp is the operator of the block with 80% interest, while NAMCOR and Custos hold 10% working interest each.
