Rhino Resources announces gas condensate discovery at Volans-1X well in Namibia’s Orange Basin

Independent oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company Rhino Resources has announced a significant gas condensate discovery at the Volans-1X well on Block 2914A in Namibia’s Orange Basin.

Rhino, through its subsidiary Rhino Resources Namibia, holds a 42.5% interest and operatorship in Petroleum Exploration Licence 85 (PEL85), which covers Block 2914A where Volans-1X is located.

Other partners in PEL 85 include Azule Energy, a 50:50 joint venture of energy majors BP (UK) and Eni (Italy) with a 42.5% stake; Namibia’s state oil company NAMCOR with 10%; and Namibian private investor Korres with 5%.

In an October 1 operational update on the Block 2914A drilling campaign, Rhino said the well encountered a high-quality 26-metre reservoir containing gas with rich light oil condensate, no water, and valuable liquids of around 40° API gravity.

The Volans-1X exploration well, spudded on July 31 using the Northern Ocean’s semi-submersible Deepsea Mira, reached a total depth of 4,497.5m on August 30, successfully penetrating the Upper Cretaceous target.

According to Rhino’s statement, hydrocarbon samples and sidewall cores were collected through intensive wireline logging operations. The rig was demobilised on September 14 to drill at another location while Volans-1X laboratory studies continue on the rest of the fluid samples, side wall cores and cuttings collected during the campaign.

“Rhino, on behalf of the PEL85 JV, are delighted to announce the discovery of a high liquid-yield gas condensate in excellent quality reservoir at the Volans-1X well. This is our third consecutive hydrocarbon discovery on the Block and further enhances our understanding of the sub-surface,” CEO Travis Smithard said in the statement.

He noted that the results from the Volans-1X well identified a different reservoir and fluid type from the company’s recent discoveries made at Sagittarius-1X and Capricornus-1X. According to Smithard, this opened up an exciting new play fairway within the licence.

“Rhino, in collaboration with our partners Azule Energy, NAMCOR and Korres will now evaluate the results of the ongoing testing and integrate them into blockwide prospectivity studies,” he added.

Since 2022, the Orange Basin has become a major frontier for offshore oil exploration. It has seen multiple oil discoveries, including Graff-1X and Jonker-1X (Shell, PEL39) Venus-1X (TotalEnergies, Block 2913B), Lesedi-1X (Chevron, PEL90), and Mopane-1X (Galp, PEL83), collectively accounting for over 11bn barrels of oil.

In August, Smithard stated that Rhino Resources had an “ambition” to become the first oil producer in Namibia, as reported by Bloomberg at the time.

Cape Town-based privately owned Rhino Resources says it is focused on organic and inorganic growth to become a leading independent E&P company in pursuit of energy equality and a just energy transition.

In South Africa, Rhino is exploring onshore for biogenic gas, helium and native hydrogen. “Our ambition is to play a role in unlocking the energy potential of South Africa by supplying dispatchable resources required to enable largescale renewable energy adoption,” says the company.