88 Energy seismic lights up oil targets in Namibia

88 Energy has wrapped up a successful 2D seismic program across its petroleum exploration licence 93 (PEL93) in Namibia’s Owambo Basin with initial analysis picking up significant subsurface structures.

Although the 203km of 2D seismic lines still need to be fully interpreted in-house, the company said it was happy with the information it has received so far, confirming the signal-to-noise ratio – and indicator of the quality of the data - was good across all nine lines.

88 Energy will soon begin crunching the processed data in collaboration with joint venture partner Monitor Exploration and will then look to produce an independent prospective resource estimate by April next year.

Processed by seismic specialist Earth Signal in its Canadian offices, the results have picked up an exceptionally detailed image of the main Damara play within the Mulden and Otavi reservoirs. The interpretive work will now focus on these two zones of interest in preparation for eventually pinpointing suitable drill sites.

More specifically, the initial analysis picked up a substantial, high-relief structure now known as “Lead 9” which spans almost 186 square kilometres within Damara. It has been interpreted to be close to the original source of the hydrocarbons, making it a major exploration target.

The recent activity by Reconnaissance Energy Africa (Recon Africa) at the nearby PEL 73 licence and particularly its Naingopo-1 well targeting the Damara play, appears to show striking similarities with 88 Energy’s plans.

And the story has only become more interesting since Recon Africa farmed out 20 per cent of its ground to BW Energy in July for AU$24 million. That deal has stirred a lot of industry interest, hinting at the potential value of ongoing exploration within the huge Owambo Basin.

88 Energy’s work to date at PEL 93 has not only fulfilled its license requirements but puts it in good stead for taking up the option to increase its position to 45 per cent through additional investment should the play continue to stack up.

At the same time as moving its Namibian interests forward, the company has equally big ambitions to develop up its huge 63 per cent-controlled Phoenix project in Alaska. Recent work by independent consultant ERCE boosted its prospective 2C resource to an eye-watering 378 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) at the project, of which 239 MMboe is attributable to 88 Energy.

With the energy community no doubt watching closely, 88 Energy’s upcoming exploration steps may hold the key to unlocking the huge potential of the Owambo Basin and with it, Namibia’s standing on the global energy map.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au