Eco Cleared to Drill Offshore Namibia

AIM-listed explorer Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas has been granted final approval to drill on PEL 30 offshore Namibia.

The government there issued the approval to drill the offshore licence, Eco said September 27. The exploration well will be on the Osprey prospect, offshore north central Namibia.

Osprey is estimated to contain as much as 882mn barrels of oil equivalent, said Eco. It is presumed this is a primarily oil prospect. PEL 30 licensees are Eco (32.5% and operator), Seacrest Capital-backed Azinam (32.5%), India’s ONGC (15% pending approvals), Tullow (10%) and Namibian state Namcor (10%). 

Eco chief operating officer Colin Kinley said it was planning for a well in Q3 2019 or Q1 2020. He noted that a dry well was recently drilled by Tullow on PEL 37, just to the south of PEL 30. “Although it was disappointing commercially for our partners and friends, it has provided Eco with valuable data to help better understand the characteristics of our field,” said Kinley. 

Azinam is a partner in UK indie Chariot-operated PEL 71 where a well is to be drilled later this year on Prospect S.  ONGC farmed into Tullow’s PEL 37 in 2017 and also last year agreed to acquire a 15% interest in PEL 30 from Azinam which has yet to be approved.  

Update Sept.28: Azinam said that the Ocean Rig Poseidon has been mobilised to drill the Prospect S well on PEL 71 by operator Chariot, adding that partners - Chariot 65%, Azinam 20%, Namcor 10% and Ignitus Oil & Gas 5% - estimate that drilling will last about 40 days.