A Qatari energy firm has announced that it has made a “promising” discovery of “good quality, light oil” and “limited associated gas” in Namibia.
Qatar Energy said on Tuesday that it made the discovery at the Merlin-1 X exploration well in Namibia’s offshore. The actual volume of the potential oil output was not immediately communicated.
Merlin-1 X is the tenth well drilled under the Petroleum Exploration License 39 (PEL 0039) awarded to the Qatari firm.
Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, who is also the CEO of Qatar Energy, said: “We are pleased with this discovery, which follows three earlier discovery announcements in Namibia.”
Results ‘strengthen confidence’ in Namibia’s oil potential
He added: “These results represent a significant step that further strengthens confidence in the Orange Basin as an emerging world-class hydrocarbon province.”
The Orange Basin is a major petroleum-rich region offshore of Namibia and western South Africa.
Al Kaabi, quoted by Qatar’s English-language newspaper The Peninsula, further stated that Doha was extending “our appreciation to the Government of the Republic of Namibia for its continued support of this exploration effort, and we congratulate our partners the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia on this achievement.”
The four petroleum exploration licences that Qatar possesses in Namibia cover 34,000 square-kilometres.
