Vancouver-based Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd (ReconAfrica) has begun operations to drill in Petroleum Exploration Licence 73 (PEL73) onshore Namibia.
The company has started major civil works for building access roads to the Naingopo exploration well site in the Damara Fold Belt, it said in a news release Thursday.
The company expects to begin drilling the first Damara Fold Belt exploration well, Naingopo (Prospect L), in June. It is targeting 163 million barrels of unrisked prospective oil resources, or 843 billion cubic feet of unrisked prospective natural gas resources.
The well is expected to drill to a depth of approximately 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) and is projected to encounter four primary reservoir intervals targeting both oil and natural gas. Drilling is expected to take approximately 90 days and will include three sets of logging operations, coring and reservoir testing, ReconAfrica outlined.
ReconAfrica said its primary contractor has mobilized equipment and personnel to the region and is in the process of completing the drilling of the water well for major civil works and drilling operations. To complete the civil works, access road and wellsite construction, the Jarvie-1 drilling rig will be mobilized.
ReconAfrica President and CEO Brian Reinsborough said, “With our recently completed upsized bought deal financing, we are now in a position to commence drilling of the Naingopo exploration well (also referred to as Prospect L), in the Damara Fold Belt. Demining and brush clearing activities on Prospect L were completed in March 2024”.
“We are meeting with our partner NAMCOR and the Ministry of Mines and Energy this week to finalize the detailed drilling program and future drilling and subsurface data acquisition plans," Reinsborough noted.
He added, “We have recently met with both governors of the Kavango region, who continue to express gratitude for Recon’s safe activities and community involvement”.
Following the drilling of the Naingopo well, ReconAfrica is planning to drill a second Damara Fold Belt well, Prospect P. It is targeting 278 million barrels of unrisked prospective oil resources, or 1.5 trillion cubic feet of unrisked prospective natural gas resources. Drilling of the second Damara Fold Belt well is expected to begin in the fourth quarter, subject to the results of the Naingopo well, the company stated.
Meanwhile, ReconAfrica said it has given bid instructions and guidelines to interested third parties for a potential joint venture and initial bids are expected this month. “Only strong bids that enhance shareholder and stakeholder value will be considered,” the company said.
ReconAfrica is a Canadian oil and gas company engaged in the opening of the newly discovered deep Kavango Sedimentary Basin in the Kalahari Desert of northeastern Namibia and northwestern Botswana, where the firm holds petroleum licenses comprising approximately eight million contiguous acres.
According to the company’s website, the firm has been granted licenses by Namibia and Botswana to explore and confirm the presence of hydrocarbon resources.
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