Chamwe Kaira
Shell plc, which has already discovered oil offshore Namibia plans to spend N$4.6 billion on drilling two more wells in the next nine months.
CEO Wael Sawan told the company’s investors that Namibia has shown potential for a new oil basin.
Shell, TotalEnergies and government owned oil company, Namcor have announced a number of discoveries of oil offshore Namibia recently. The discoveries were made in the Oranje Basin that is shared with South Africa.
Shell has made four significant discoveries in Namibia to date: Graff, La Rona, Lesedi and Jonker.
The oil discovery is expected to create around 4200 jobs. The oil industry is expected to earn Namibia N$105.9 billion per year in revenue to state coffers.
Official statistics show that over 22 oil and gas wells have been drilled offshore Namibia, the majority of them since independence.
Presently, offshore 2D seismic survey coverage stands at over 147 000 line kilometres, and more than 40 423 km² of 3D seismic data has been acquired by license operators.
Undertaking an exploration programme, requires specialist knowledge and depending on the scope can exceed US$100m, with costs increasing significantly if activities are offshore.
The country’s hydrocarbon potential is estimated to be between 300 – 500 billions of barrels of oil equivalent, according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Shell plc Chief Executive Officer, Wael Sawan said last week that Shell delivered another quarter of strong operational and financial performance, capturing opportunities in volatile commodity markets. We continue to simplify our portfolio while delivering more value with less emissions.
He said the third quarter adjusted earnings of US$6.2 billion, reflecting robust operational performance and higher oil prices and refining margins. The results saw Cash flows from operations (CFFO) of US$12.3 billion for the quarter, with a $0.4 billion working capital inflow, despite higher oil prices.
