Sintana Energy secures extension on PEL79 in Namibia’s Orange Basin

Canadian oil and natural gas exploration company Sintana Energy has shared an update regarding Petroleum Exploration Licence 79 (PEL 79) which governs blocks 2815 and 2915 located offshore Namibia in the Orange Basin.

Joint venture (JV) partners of PEL 79 include the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) and Giraffe Energy Investments (Giraffe), an entity in which TSXV-listed Sintana maintains a 49% interest. NAMCOR is the operator with a 67% interest, and Namibian private energy company Giraffe has a 33% interest in PEL 79.

Namibia’s Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy has notified the partners that a 12-month extension to the second renewal exploration period has been granted extending the current license period to July 2026, according to Sintana Energy’s media statement on July 15.

PEL 79 sits “adjacent to an emerging microregional dynamic focused on oil-weighted prospectivity,” says Sintana Energy. It is located next to licences operated by Norway-based global exploration and production (E&P) company BW Energy, South African privately-owned explorer Rhino Resources and British energy supermajor Shell.

“PEL 79 is attractively situated to deliver significant value through an existing prospect inventory underpinned by over 4,760 km of 2D seismic, 1,137 km2 of 3D seismic and 1 well with gas shows intersecting the Kudu source rock,” the Canadian explorer said in the statement.

In May 2025, Rhino Resources and partners drilled two exploration wells and announced the Capricornus 1-X light oil discovery in PEL 85, directly to the west of PEL 79. The discovery is considered to be a game-changing development for Namibia, with the exploration well flowing at 11,000 barrels per day (bpd) during testing, with limited associated gas from a 38-metre net oil-bearing reservoir.

Additional drilling activity by the DeepSea Mira semi-submersible rig deployed in PEL 85 is expected to begin in the coming days, initially targeting the Volans-1X prospect for Rhino, with three optional wells over an estimated period of 112 days, as reported by NewsBase.

Also to the west of the shallow-water PEL 79 is PEL 3, which contains the Kudu Gas Field. BW Energy has acquired 4,600 km2 of new 3D seismic data in PEL 3 and has approved an appraisal well for the Kharas prospect, with spudding scheduled for late 2025. To the southwest of PEL 79, Shell operates PEL 39, where it holds a 45% interest (with QatarEnergy and NAMCOR as co-owners). As of mid-2023, Shell has made four light oil deepwater discoveries there, making it a hotspot of ongoing exploration.

“We appreciate the leadership by our joint venture partner NAMCOR to secure the extension for PEL 79. Extending our exposure during a period of significant offset activity positions us to fully realise the significant geologic, commercial, and strategic value of PEL 79.” said Robert Bose, CEO of Sintana Energy and chairman of Giraffe. “The potential for high impact progress on PEL 79 adds to the prospect for significant developments across our Namibian offshore portfolio. We expect material progress on all our licences over the coming quarters.” he added.

The TSXV-listed independent explorer holds minority indirect interests in several petroleum exploration licences offshore Namibia with operators including Galp Energia (Portugal), Chevron (US), and Pan Continental (Australia).