Portuguese oil company Galp Energia has announced that it has completed the first phase of exploration in the Mopane field off the coast of Namibia, estimating that it may contain ten billion barrels of oil.
Testing of the Mopane-1X and Mopane-2X wells in January and March revealed “significant accumulation of light oil (low-sulfur) in high-grade sand reservoirs,” Galp reported, citing Reuters.
The Mopane field is located off the coast of Namibia, in the Orange Basin, where British Shell and French TotalEnergies have already discovered several oil and gas fields. The “output” of oil in the test reaches the upper limit of 14 thousand barrels per day, potentially positioning Mopane as an important commercial discovery, the Portuguese company emphasized, reports Poslovni.hr.
Galp owns 80 percent of the oil exploration permit in the Orange Basin, which covers an area of nearly 10,000 square kilometers.
Namibia could become a new source of income for Galp, which has so far invested large sums in the extraction of oil in the territorial waters of Brazil, and also participates in the project of extracting gas in the Rovuma basin of Mozambique.
The company has signaled that it may seek partners for projects in Namibia as they could take on a large scale.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies may invite Namibia to join them, given indications that it could become Africa’s fourth largest producer by the next decade, an African oil official told Reuters.
“The Mopane complex alone is estimated to contain ten billion barrels of oil equivalent or even more, and that is before exploration and test wells are drilled,” Galp reported.
Tags: Discovered giant oil field billion barrels invitation OPEC
