Shell plans to resume exploration on the PEL 39 oil block in the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia, with a new drilling campaign scheduled to begin in April 2026. The operation will include five additional exploration wells aimed at collecting more data on the block’s commercial potential, which had generated significant interest following several discoveries.
Strategic return to previously drilled zones
The project comes amid a reassessment of PEL 39’s potential, after Shell recorded a $400mn impairment on one of the discoveries. The targeted areas for the upcoming campaign include the sites of previous discoveries named Graff, La Rona and Jonker, identified from 2021. The objective is to better understand the reservoir composition and confirm the commercial viability of the identified resources.
Shell is conducting this operation in partnership with QatarEnergy and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor), the national oil company. The three partners aim to gather further data to accurately assess recoverable volumes, particularly in light of high gas-to-oil ratios noted by several analysts, which complicate short-term profitability estimates.
Technical challenges across the basin
The challenges faced by Shell are not isolated. Other major oil companies operating in the Orange Basin, such as TotalEnergies and Chevron, are also continuing drilling and appraisal activities in the region. Several wells drilled in recent months have shown mixed results, ranging from promising discoveries to non-commercial structures.
Meanwhile, on the Mopane field, Portuguese operator Galp recently divested part of its interest to TotalEnergies, which is set to become the operator following an agreement signed in early December. This transition comes as technical studies are underway on the gas share within the identified volumes, a key factor in future development decisions.
