08 August 2013, News Wires – French operator Maurel et Prom has increased its stake in an offshore sub-Saharan African play.
The explorer has exercised an option to increase its holding in exploration licences, PEL, 44 and 45 off Namibia to 42.5% after taking 5.5% from partner AziNam.
The move leaves both parties on 42.5% with M&P retaining operatorship of the licences which include blocks 2212B, 2313A, 2313B and 2413A.
“The exercising of this option provides further confirmation of the significant prospectivity of these blocks, particularly after the discovery of a mature Aptian marine source rock in both of the recent (Brazilian independent HRT Oil & Gas) exploration wells located adjacent to the licence area,” AziNam said.
In late July HRT threw up dust at the Murombe wildcat on Block 2212A in the Walvis basin. Murombe was drilled to a final depth of 5729 metres and just 15 kilometres west of Wingat, the company’s first dry well in Namibia.
The main objective of Murombe was to test the resource potential of Barremian turbidite rocks, but wireline logs indicated poor results.
HRT also did not find commercial oil at its first Wingat-1 wildcat in Namibia but said oil shows bolstered the area’s geologic potential.
The Brazilian has, since those two commercial dusters, spudded the Moosehead-1 wildcat which will target the oil potential of Barremian-aged carbonate reservoirs in hopes of finding an analog of Brazil’s bounteous pre-salt.
The wildcat is on PEL 24 in the region’s Orange basin and is expected to be drilled to 4100 metres over 53 days.
Despite HRT’s travails, AziNam managing director David Sturt said: “The two recent HRT wells have significantly advanced our understanding of the hydrocarbon potential of our exploration licences. We now have a proven laterally extensive mature oil source rock along the offshore margin where our exploration licences are located.
“Data collected from recent drilling demonstrates, however, that the offshore Namibian Basins contain all the ingredients of a working hydrocarbon system.”
– Upstream
