Grand Gulf Energy signs option to gain interest in block offshore Namibia

Grand Gulf Energy Ltd. entered into a binding option agreement to gain an exclusive option to acquire Wrangel Pty Ltd., which could result in Grand Gulf acquiring interest in Block 2312 in Walvis basin, offshore Namibia. 

Wrangel is an applicant for a 70% working interest in a petroleum exploration license in Block 2312 in partnership with Namibian-based oil and gas company TSE Oil and Gas (Pty) Ltd. (20%) and state-owned NAMCOR (10%).

Under the terms of the agreement, consideration is only payable upon the successful granting of the production exploration license, Grand Gulf said in a release Apr. 16. 

Grand Gulf has undertaken a comprehensive technical review of all available data which has confirmed the prospectivity of the block, it said. Technical work going forward will include a focused re-evaluation of the seismic characteristics of the Prospect S reservoir and nearby features, aimed at assessing the ability of seismic attributes to reliably predict hydrocarbon presence across the block’s most prospective targets.

The block, which covers 16,800 sq km in 1,500-2,000 m of water, lies south of the Murombe-1 and Wingat-1 wells, which established the prospectivity of offshore Namibia, the company said.

There is a total of about 6,100 sq km of 3D seismic in the north of the block and 4,700 line km of 2D seismic with an average line spacing of 8-10 km. Data collected from the Prospect S well has upgraded exploration targets to the northeast, such as Prospect B, along with targets which have access to the outboard oil kitchen such as Prospects W and V, the company said.

Previous Block 2312 operator Chariot Ltd. mapped multiple dip-closed structural prospects targeting Upper Cretaceous deepwater turbidite reservoirs. These prospects are interpreted to have received hydrocarbon charge from Aptian-aged marine source rocks, which have been confirmed as excellent quality in both Wingat-1 and Murombe-1 explorations (OGJ Online, Mar. 26, 2013, June 3, 2013).

The block is estimated to contain 1.1 billion bbl total mean prospective resources.