TotalEnergies Namibia has acquired Africa Oil’s stake in offshore Namibian blocks 2912 and 2913B, which include the Venus field.
The farmdown was conducted via Africa Oil’s investee company Impact Oil & Gas Limited, which has received a payment of $99 million as reimbursement for its share of costs incurred on the blocks net to the farmdown interests.
Impact has retained a 9.5% interest in each of the blocks and will benefit from a carry loan for all its remaining development, appraisal, and exploration costs on the blocks from the effective date until the date on which Impact receives the first sales proceeds from oil production on the blocks.
Block 2913B is located in Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 56, offshore southern Namibia, and covers approximately 8,215 km2 in water depths between 2,450 m and 3,250 m.
Following the completion of the farmdown, Impact now holds a 9.5% interest in this block.
TotalEnergies, the operator, holds a 50.5% interest, QatarEnergy holds a 30.0% interest, and NAMCOR, the Namibian state oil company, holds a 10.0% interest.
Block 2913B contains the world-class Venus light oil and associated gas field that was discovered by the Venus-1X well drilled in 2022, which encountered a high-quality light oil-bearing sandstone reservoir of Lower Cretaceous age.
The field has been appraised with the testing of the Venus-1X sidetrack well plus three additional appraisal wells that have also been flow tested. These wells are Venus-1A, Venus-2A, and Mangetti-1X.
Block 2912 is located in PEL 91, adjacent to and to the west of block 2913B. It covers an area of approximately 7,884 km2 in water depths between 3,000 m and 3,950 m.
Following the completion of the farmdown, Impact now holds a 9.5% interest in this block, while TotalEnergies, the operator, holds a 47.2% interest, Qatar Energy holds a 28.3% stake, and NAMCOR holds the remaining 15.0%.
Following the 2022 Venus-1X discovery well, four further exploration and appraisal wells have been drilled on the blocks to date. Of the five wells drilled, four have successfully penetrated and tested the Venus field. As a result, planning is currently progressing for the first development area, with a development scheme expected to be finalized by the end of 2025.
During 2024, two additional 3D seismic acquisition programs were completed to facilitate further exploration over the southern and northern parts of the combined blocks. This has resulted in most of the licensed area now being covered by 3D seismic. This data is currently being processed and interpreted and will help further evaluate prospects and leads in the far northern and southern parts of the blocks.
On October 20, 2024, the DeepSea Mira spud the Tamboti-1X well, targeting significant additional resource in the north of Block 2913B. Beyond Tambotti-1X, there are a number of prospects in the southern part of the Blocks that are currently being matured by the recent 3D seismic data and create an opportunity for follow-on potential high-impact exploration wells, according to Africa Oil.
Africa Oil’s President and CEO, Roger Tucker, stated that the farmdown enables the company to maintain a funded stake in the Venus development project, which is anticipated to substantially increase reserves and production within their portfolio. He also highlighted the strong exploration potential of the blocks, beginning with the recently drilled Tamboti-1X well.
