ReconAfrica begins drilling highly-anticipated Naingopo oil and gas exploration well onshore Namibia

(WO) – Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. and its joint venture partner NAMCOR (the state oil company of Namibia), announced the spudding of the Naingopo exploration well on Petroleum Exploration Licence 73 (“PEL 73”), onshore northeast Namibia.

First Damara Fold Belt well – Naingopo exploration well. ReconAfrica spud the Naingopo exploration well in the Damara Fold Belt onshore PEL 73 in northeast Namibia on July 7, 2024.

The well will be drilled to a planned total depth of approximately 3,800 m (12,500 ft), and is expected to encounter multiple reservoir intervals targeting both oil and gas. The Naingopo well is targeting 163 MMbbl mof unrisked prospective oil resources or 843 Bcf of unrisked prospective natural gas resources.

Additionally, ReconAfrica said it “continues to progress the farm out joint venture process,” which the company hopes to do soon.

Brian Reinsborough, President and CEO commented, said, “Our operations teams spud the well on July 7, 2024. We are extremely excited to be drilling this high impact Damara Fold Belt well that our technical and operations teams have been planning over the past 11 months, since I joined ReconAfrica. The Naingopo well represents the first well in a multi-well exploration drilling campaign on PEL 73. The well is anticipated to reach total depth of 3,800 metres (12,500 feet), and take 90 days to drill. This is a significant play opening well which may unlock a total potential resource of over 3.1 billion barrels of oil or 18 trillion cubic feet of natural gas based on the most recent prospective resource report prepared by Netherland, Sewell & Associates Inc. (“NSAI”), dated March 12, 2024.”

Chris Sembritzky, Senior VP of Exploration commented, said, “The Naingopo exploration well is the first well to test the Damara Fold Belt play. In the event of success, the well would unlock significant oil and natural gas potential from our additional three prospects and 20 leads that have been mapped and defined. The Naingopo well is expected to test multiple reservoir intervals of which four are included in our third party resource report from NSAI.”

ReconAfrica is a Canadian oil and gas company engaged in the exploration of the Damara Fold Belt and Kavango Rift Basin in the Kalahari Desert of northeastern Namibia and northwestern Botswana, where the company holds petroleum licenses comprising ~8 million contiguous acres.