AfrOil: Galp's drillship arrival signals start of new drilling campaigns offshore Namibia

Namibia’s next phase of offshore oil drilling is set to start with the arrival of a rig at Portuguese oil and gas explorer Galp Energia’s Mopane discovery site, Bloomberg reports.

Saipem’s Santorini drillship, which was en route to the site, reached the location early Wednesday (October 23), according to Bloomberg’s ship-tracking data. The Santorini is a state-of-the-art, seventh-generation drillship designed for ultra-deepwater operations, capable of drilling in water depths exceeding 3,500 metres. Italian oilfield services firm Saipem purchased the vessel in December 2022 and has since deployed it for a range of offshore drilling activities.

The Santorini’s arrival offshore Namibia marks the beginning of at least four drilling campaigns scheduled to start by year-end, involving energy supermajors TotalEnergies (France), Chevron (US), and others, following a series of significant finds in Namibia’s Atlantic waters.

Although Galp declined to comment, CEO Filipe Silva indicated in July that the company was preparing for four new wells in Namibia during the last quarter of the year. Namibia’s recent oil discoveries have attracted increased exploration activity in the highly prospective Orange Basin, despite oil majors facing tighter development budgets amid the worldwide energy transition.

In the meantime, Cape Town-based independent explorer Rhino Resources is set to start drilling two wells in November, while Chevron plans to drill in December, according to Namibia’s petroleum commissioner Maggy Shino, who spoke at a conference in Cape Town earlier this month. TotalEnergies also intends to explore its deepwater Tamboti prospect later this year, says the media agency.

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