London: 24 February 2022
Impact Oil & Gas Limited (“Impact” or the “Company“), a privately-owned, Africa-focused, exploration company is pleased to announce a major light oil with associated gas discovery in Block 2913B (PEL 56), offshore Namibia.
Siraj Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of Impact, commented: “We are excited to announce the results of this world-class discovery, which has exceeded our pre-drill expectations. As Namibia’s second important discovery in recent weeks, it confirms the enormous potential of the Orange Basin as an emerging major hydrocarbon province. We congratulate TotalEnergies, as operator, for safely drilling the Venus-1X deep-water well. We would also like to congratulate our partners QatarEnergy and NAMCOR, as well as the Ministry of Mines and Energy for their steadfast support over the years. We look forward to continuing this collaborative relationship with our joint venture partners, as we evaluate the next phase of the programme to unlock the full potential of this acreage.”
The Venus-1X discovery well was drilled by TotalEnergies EP Namibia B.V (“TotalEnergies”), as operator, on behalf of a joint venture group comprising TotalEnergies (40%), QatarEnergy (30%), Impact (through its wholly owned subsidiary, Impact Oil and Gas Namibia (PTY) Ltd) (20%), and Namcor (10%).
The Venus discovery sits in the Orange Basin, approximately 290 kilometres off the coast of Namibia, in the deep offshore. The well was drilled to a total depth of 6,296 metres, by the Maersk Voyager drillship, and encountered a high-quality, light oil-bearing sandstone reservoir of Lower Cretaceous age, with 84 meters of net oil pay.
Philip Birch, Impact’s Exploration Director, commented: “This play-opening discovery firmly places the deep-water Orange Basin as one of the world’s most exciting areas for hydrocarbon exploration, and validates Impact’s focus on the highly prospective Southern Africa Cretaceous oil and gas play, which extends from southern-most Namibia to the east coast of South Africa.”
Impact also holds an 18.89% working interest in the adjacent Block 2912, where it is partnered with TotalEnergies (Operator, with 37.78%), QatarEnergy (28.33%) and NAMCOR (15%).
Block 2913B, offshore Namibia
Petroleum Exploration Licence 56, Block 2913B, is located offshore southern Namibia and covers approximately 8,215km² in water depths up to 3,000 metres. Impact entered the licence as Operator in 2014, acquiring 2D, then 3D seismic data which defined the Venus prospect. In 2017 Impact was subsequently joined by TotalEnergies, who bring significant deep-water drilling expertise to the Joint Venture, and in 2019 by QatarEnergy.