The Norwegian oil producer BW Energy, has contracted a rig for the drilling of the Kharas appraisal well on the Kudu licence (PPL003) in the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia.
The Deepsea Mira semi-submersible, operated by Northern Ocean Ltd., will drill the long awaited well on the Kudu structure as part of the scheduled rig-sharing arrangement in which Rhino Resources Ltd also gets to drill is own third well in the prospective Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) 85, where it has reported two oil discoveries: Sagittarius-1X and Capricornus-1X in the last eight months.
Kharas will be the ninth well on the Greater Kudu structure and the first drilling since Tullow Oil’s disappointing Kudu-8 appraisal well failed to account for the additional reserves needed to signal development. “The results of the logging programme indicated production from the well would not exceed the 19Million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d) rate recorded at Kudu-5”, Tullow reported at the time, in late 2007.
BW Energy claims in a statement released July 28, 2025 that “the contract (entered with Northern Ocean Ltd for Deepsea Mira), provides access to an in-country rig and an experienced services team with a strong track record in the Orange Basin, supported by a high level of local content”.
BW Energy concluded its farm in into the Kudu field acreage in February 2017 as BW Offshore, before the company then spun off BW Energy as a quasi-independent entity, working as E&P operator, as part of the BW Group. The company took a 56% stake at the time, with NAMCOR, the state hydrocarbon company, holding a 44% stake. As the Namibian state was unwilling to invest in what could have led to a gas to wire project, BW Energy assumed more of the stake in the Kudu production licence with a 95% working interest. NAMCOR E&P now holds the remaining 5% carried interest.
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