On Wednesday, Shell announced the successful completion of the drilling of their fourth exploration well, Lesedi-1X, in Namibia, affirming the existence of hydrocarbons.
In the past few years, Shell and TotalEnergies have made multiple oil and gas findings in the waters off Namibia’s coast, resulting in a significant surge in exploration efforts in the region.
In its statement on Wednesday, Shell said data following the successful fourth drilling confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons, adding that “further evaluation is required to determine development potential”.
The Namibian government has also approved a Shell application to drill another 10 exploration and appraisal wells in Namibia, a Shell spokesman said.
In February 2022, TotalEnergies achieved an oil discovery in Namibia’s Petroleum Exploration Licence 56 with the Venus well, which industry analysts at Barclays estimate to contain approximately 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
Shell, on the other hand, announced findings in PEL 39 with the Graff, La Rona, and Jonker wells. According to Barclays, these wells collectively hold an estimated 1.7 billion boe.
