Shell to drill for oil, gas
After having pulled out of the Kudu gas field, the company hopes to start its exploration activities for new prospects in 2018 and 2020.
The public has until 4 August to comment on an environmental report on the intended commencement with deep-water exploration well drilling by Shell Namibia Upstream B.V. in its petroleum exploration licence (PEL) 39 (Block 2913A and 2914B) off the southern coast.
The draft scoping report was done by SLR Environmental Consulting.
Shell acquired the exploration licence in early 2014 when the company returned to upstream operations in Namibia and established a small office in Windhoek as operator of the deep-water licence some 250km offshore.
The licence borders with South Africa and is about 12 000 square kilometres big.
Shell holds 90% controlling interest in the licence, while Namcor has the remaining 10%.
The company is proposing to drill one or possibly two exploration wells in the northern portion of the licence area to determine whether identified geological structures or prospects contain oil or gas in potentially commercial extractable amounts, SLR said.
The board chairperson of Shell Namibia, Dennis Zekveld, earlier said the company had completed a seismic survey in the north-eastern portion of the licence in 2014 to determine whether there is potential for hydrocarbons.
He confirmed that “prospects” were found but stressed that the real find can only be determined by the actual drilling.
“A commercial discovery by any operator would be significant in terms of delivering stable energy supply and economic growth,” Zakveld said. “These are challenging times for the industry and for exploration in particular with limited risk capital available and fierce global competition. However, Shell takes a long-term perspective and continues to pursue exploration projects in a select number of frontier basins of which Namibia is one.”
Shell Namibia has originally been exploring the Kudu gas field and found negligible amounts of gas to be explored commercially.
Zekveld said the three-dimensional seismic survey done in 2014 has shown that the geological characteristics between PEL 39 and the Kudu gas field are quite different, but said the hydrocarbons discovered in the gas field area is “encouraging evidence” that commercial quantities of hydrocarbons could be present in PEL 39. The anticipated drilling will be at a depth of about 3 000 meters below the seafloor at an estimated cost of US$50 million to US$100 million for each well.
Drilling of each well is expected to take two months. The drilling date has yet to be fixed and may be scheduled for late 2018 and 2020.
Environmental concerns
Zekveld said Shell said it has since 2014 been in “constructive communication” with the fishing sector.
“The fact that during the early exploration phase Shell consciously avoided the peak fishing catch period demonstrates that oil and gas exploration and Namibia's fishing industry can coexist,” Zakveld said.
He said as part of the drilling environmental impact assessment independent marine ecology and fisheries studies will be undertaken, which will include a mitigation management plan to control the potential impact of Shell's exploration activities.
Zakveld said there will be no contribution to the acidification of the Namibian coastline as a result of the deep-water exploration activities.
“Oil and gas exploration activities will only have a localised, temporary and negligible deep-water impact and there will be no chemical pollution effects on the Namibian coastline,” Zakveld said.
CATHERINE SASMAN
The draft scoping report was done by SLR Environmental Consulting.
Shell acquired the exploration licence in early 2014 when the company returned to upstream operations in Namibia and established a small office in Windhoek as operator of the deep-water licence some 250km offshore.
The licence borders with South Africa and is about 12 000 square kilometres big.
Shell holds 90% controlling interest in the licence, while Namcor has the remaining 10%.
The company is proposing to drill one or possibly two exploration wells in the northern portion of the licence area to determine whether identified geological structures or prospects contain oil or gas in potentially commercial extractable amounts, SLR said.
The board chairperson of Shell Namibia, Dennis Zekveld, earlier said the company had completed a seismic survey in the north-eastern portion of the licence in 2014 to determine whether there is potential for hydrocarbons.
He confirmed that “prospects” were found but stressed that the real find can only be determined by the actual drilling.
“A commercial discovery by any operator would be significant in terms of delivering stable energy supply and economic growth,” Zakveld said. “These are challenging times for the industry and for exploration in particular with limited risk capital available and fierce global competition. However, Shell takes a long-term perspective and continues to pursue exploration projects in a select number of frontier basins of which Namibia is one.”
Shell Namibia has originally been exploring the Kudu gas field and found negligible amounts of gas to be explored commercially.
Zekveld said the three-dimensional seismic survey done in 2014 has shown that the geological characteristics between PEL 39 and the Kudu gas field are quite different, but said the hydrocarbons discovered in the gas field area is “encouraging evidence” that commercial quantities of hydrocarbons could be present in PEL 39. The anticipated drilling will be at a depth of about 3 000 meters below the seafloor at an estimated cost of US$50 million to US$100 million for each well.
Drilling of each well is expected to take two months. The drilling date has yet to be fixed and may be scheduled for late 2018 and 2020.
Environmental concerns
Zekveld said Shell said it has since 2014 been in “constructive communication” with the fishing sector.
“The fact that during the early exploration phase Shell consciously avoided the peak fishing catch period demonstrates that oil and gas exploration and Namibia's fishing industry can coexist,” Zakveld said.
He said as part of the drilling environmental impact assessment independent marine ecology and fisheries studies will be undertaken, which will include a mitigation management plan to control the potential impact of Shell's exploration activities.
Zakveld said there will be no contribution to the acidification of the Namibian coastline as a result of the deep-water exploration activities.
“Oil and gas exploration activities will only have a localised, temporary and negligible deep-water impact and there will be no chemical pollution effects on the Namibian coastline,” Zakveld said.
CATHERINE SASMAN
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