Galp Energia SGPS SA GLPEY, an oil and gas exploration player in Portugal, has initiated a second exploration and appraisal campaign offshore Namibia. It has done so after the successful discovery of light oil in high-quality reservoir sands during the first campaign. Galp Energia conducted the first exploration campaign in PEL 83 in the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia.

Galp Energia Books Saipem for Second Campaign

For the second exploration campaign, the Santorini drillship, acquired by Saipem S.p.A SAPMF in 2022, has arrived at the location. Saipem’s Santorini drillship is a seventh-generation drillship capable of operating at a depth of 12,000 feet underwater.  GLPEY will conduct the second campaign on blocks 2813A and 2814B in the Orange basin. The Orange Basin is gaining recognition as a promising region for the discovery of hydrocarbons.

Mopane Discovery's Success

In November 2023, Galp Energia began drilling a well in PEL 83, targeting the Mopane-1X prospect. The Portuguese exploration firm used the Hercules semi-submersible rig, managed by Odfjell Drilling, for the campaign. This was one of the two wells scheduled to be drilled as part of the campaign. The Mopane-1X well had confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons initially. Galp Energia later disclosed that the well had encountered high-quality reservoir-bearing sands containing light oil. Subsequently, the Mopane-2X well also delivered promising results across the exploration and appraisal targets.

The first phase of the Mopane exploration campaign was led by Galp Energia (holding an 80% stake), NAMCOR and Custos Energy (each holding a 10% stake). Another exploration and development firm, Sintana Energy, holds an indirect 49% stake in the Mopane exploration campaign via Custos Energy. The testing operations for the Mopane-1X well confirmed the presence of high-quality, large hydrocarbon columns with excellent porosity, high pressures and permeabilities in the reservoir.

Sintana Energy's Participation

Sintana Energy mentioned that the initial exploration campaign targeted at the Mopane discovery encountered several columns of light oil in high-quality reservoir-bearing sands. As per Sintana Energy, the original oil in place (OOIP) of these hydrocarbon columns is estimated to be 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

Additionally, a drill stem test was performed that yielded a flow rate of 14,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). However, the flow rate was specifically described as an infrastructure-constrained flow rate, implying that the current infrastructure may limit the maximum flow.

Sintana Energy is focusing on extracting additional information and insights to better understand the quality and potential of the Mopane discovery. The company mentioned that these exploration efforts should enable it to build on its portfolio in the Orange Basin and further discover the potential of this new hydrocarbon-rich region.

The second exploration campaign is to be conducted within the PEL 83 license, which is located adjacent to Shell plc SHEL-held PEL 39, toward the north. Shell has made many basin-opening discoveries in the Graff-1, La Rona-1 and Jonker-1 wells within PEL 39.

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