By Victor Uchechukwu
- Shell to drill 5 new exploration wells in Namibia’s PEL 39 block in 2026.
• Campaign aims to better assess existing finds Graff, La Rona, and Jonker.
• Technical challenges and high gas content complicate commercial viability.
Shell said it would launch a new drilling campaign in 2026 with five exploration wells in its PEL 39 offshore license in Namibia’s Orange Basin, press statements of August 18, 2025 had disclosed. It reported Shell as saying that it has already made several discoveries in the area, including Graff, La Rona, and Jonker.
Shell was also reported as saying that the upcoming program, with final well numbers yet to be confirmed, was designed to enable collection of additional data to better define the existing finds. The report added that Shell has considered this step essential to identify prospects with stronger oil potential before making a final investment decision.
It recalled that earlier this year, the company recorded an impairment charge of about $400 million on its PEL 39 investments, judging the hydrocarbons found so far to be commercially unviable. Industry reports that the decision was not unconnected with the technical and geological difficulties along the line, including low rock permeability and high gas content, both of which were objects of complication to proper monetization of assets.
The Namibian offshore sector according to the report is now seeing rapid activity, with projects’ speed at different levels. Meanwhile TotalEnergies is reported to have shifted its investment decision on the Venus field until late 2026, after cutting its production outlook in February from 160,000 to 150,000 barrels per day.
Source disclosed that Galp which confirmed a new discovery at Mopane in February 2025 has been trying since April 2024 to sell at least half of its 80% stake to share development costs, but the process is yet to be concluded. Analysts were also reported to have noted that the basin’s high gas content has remained a huge challenge for oil investors in particular.
And for Shell the report says, the success of this new campaign would be key to determining Namibia’s ability to turn its offshore potential into real hydrocarbon production in the next decade.
It recalled that in November 2024, then Minister of Petroleum and Mines Tom Alweendo said the country was counting on its oil and gas reserves to accelerate growth, targeting up to 8% within 10 years compared with 3.7% in 2024, quoting the World Bank.