Oil Discovery in Kavango Basin

While giants like the Permian Basin and Ghawar Field have ruled the oil community for a long time, in 2021, analysts are forecasting a new competitor might threaten their dominance. Situated in the Okavango nature reserve of Namibia and Botswana, the vast Kavango Basin is expected to possess more than 30 million tons of crude oil. The region is greater than Belgium. It may be the "largest oil play of the decade" if research was carried on in 2021.

Overview of the Kavango Basin Drilling and Recon Africa

The rig is owned by Recon Africa, a Canadian oil and gas firm actively digging three test wells in Namibia's sedimentary Kavango Basin. The corporation has a license for 9,800 square miles, plus an additional territory in neighboring Botswana - a total of 13,250 square miles.

The Company's ambition, according to a 2019 investor presentation acquired by National Geographic, is to dig hundreds of wells over a 25-year production license. The basin can create up to 120 billion barrels of oil equivalency, making it one of the largest worldwide oil discoveries in recent decades.

The Kalahari Desert includes the Kavango Basin, which covers northeastern Namibia and northern Botswana. The Okavango River provides a sustenance for an otherwise parched region, running from the mountains of Angola across northern Namibia and flowing into the Okavango Delta in northwest Botswana.

Recon Africa in the Lucrative Oil Region

Recon Africa, a subsidiary oil and gas firm, is a leading firm with a license to explore more than 35,000 square kilometers of territory in Namibia and Botswana. Analysts predict that the business could create 120 billion barrels of petroleum on only 12% of this area, possibly exceeding Texas' oil-rich Permian Basin in development continues. For this, the demand for high-end double diaphragm pumps will also increase.

While most super majors have moved offshore, analysts say there is still enough potential for independent and smaller businesses willing to investigate. Analysts refer to Africa as the "final frontier" of onshore oil exploration.

Recon Africa intends to dig "hundreds of wells" in the Kavango Basin if early research is fruitful. Some will utilize drilling processes, including injecting high-pressure fluid into subsurface shale to produce fissures and release oil.

The Residents of the Region

The Kavango people live in ReconAfrica's licensed area, which is linked to five tribal groups that primarily earn their livelihood from fishing, livestock grazing, and producing millets, corn, and maize. Tourism, especially hunting, is one of the key sectors in addition to agribusiness, and people are concerned that substantial oil exploration could drive away animals — and tourists.

The main concern of the residents regarding the new Kavango Basin Drilling project is that they will lose their jobs and sources of income (including wildlife and tourism). Because of this, a few of the people residing in the region are also against the drilling of Kavango Basin.

Beginning of the Oil Discovery in Kavango Basin

Approximately six months ago, the deep Kavango Basin in northeast Namibia and northwest Botswana was first discovered. It was further explored by the Canadian oil and gas company Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd ("Recon Africa"). In this thick Permian series, which the corporation possesses an exclusive license for, it planned to uncover enormous conventional oil reserves.

Preliminary data from Recon Africa's exploratory wells in April indicated an active petroleum system, which was intriguing. According to Petro Online, oil-rich Texas might be surpassed if drilling continues, which reports that "analysts predict the corporation could create 120 billion barrels of petroleum on just 12 per cent of this area."

Due to the large onshore conventional oil and gas deposits, low per-barrel production costs may be achieved without the need for fracking or excessive water use.

The Namibian state oil firm NAMCOR and Recon Africa have authorized a petroleum deal. The Kavango Basin is 90% owned by Recon Africa, while NAMCOR has the remaining 10% holding. The deal grants Recon Africa a 25-year manufacturing license for any commercial breakthrough they make.

These advances might be tremendous for an area that has never produced a barrel, not only for Rencon Africa but also for the people of Namibia. Many well-paying job opportunities for Namibians might be created by oil exploration and production, not to mention the potential for strengthening local capacity and sharing technology that comes with the presence of oil firms.

Additional Kavango Basin Wells

Drilled down to 2,294 meters (7,526 feet), the well was left in a ready-to-reenter state so a vertical seismic profile (VSP) could be conducted. More than 820 feet of conventionally migrating light oil, natural gas, and liquefied natural gas were found in three different zones.

To a depth of 9,121 feet, the Mbambi 6-1 well was drilled with casing installed to the total depth of 2,780 meters. There is also a possibility that the well may be left open for future testing of prospective production zones, such as a VSP. So far, exploration and production have been found in seven probable areas totaling 350 m (1,148 ft). For additional study, well log data, trimmings, and cores are now being prepared for shipping to the United States.

A conventional petroleum system has been confirmed in the first of five possible sub basins. Recon Africa will use digging and 2D seismic data to select future drilling locations and schedule executions. One or two further wells will be drilled in 2021, and two to four more wells will be dug during the first half of 2022.

Is Kavango Basin Drilling Harmful for the Environment?

While the Kavango Basin has the potential to yield immense riches for Recon Africa, environmentalists have been vocal in their opposition to drilling in the area, claiming that it will endanger the pristine Okavango wilderness. Campaigners claim that exploration might pollute local towns' water resources, in addition to threatening animals. Within six wildlife sanctuaries, the region is home to one of the world's biggest populations of African elephants and lions, tigers, giraffes, and other rare wildlife animals.

The Namibian government has pledged environmentally sustainable oil and gas extraction. Ecologists and local leaders are concerned that oil development might alter the Kavango Basin completely.

Borehole digging for petroleum resources can pollute the environment in several ways, including oil leakage, noise, and water contamination. ReconAfrica, on the other hand, claims that its locations are not situated in national parks, conservation areas, or World Heritage Sites and that there would be no environmental impact.

Recon Africa and Namibian Government on the Environmental Impacts of Kavango Basin Drilling

For Recon Africa and the Namibian government, the ecosystem is not a consideration for this initiative. Several environmental impact studies were completed by government authorities and Recon Africa, as needed by law before the project was approved.

Environment and non-governmental organizations have already voiced their opposition to Namibia's plan to explore and develop Recon Africa's oil and gas deposits.

Even though the Kavango Basin lies in the Okavango wilderness zone, one of the most varied ecosystems globally, Recon Africa's investigation has been criticized by environmentalists who don't even know where Namibia is situated. Environmentalists are concerned about one of the world's largest herds of African elephants and the water supply for the local population.

Recon Africa has pledged to "guarantee that there is no environmental damage from these wells" by following all Namibian rules and international best practices. Environmental auditors and technical specialists verify that the specifications implement the plans.

As a result, green campaigners contend that Namibia's oil and gas development and production must be stopped if we successfully shift to renewable energy. However, the idea that oil production in the Kavango Basin will drive out renewable from the market is a myth.

Recon Africa thinks that the targeted deposits are located in a hitherto unknown Karoo Basin along key trans-African lineaments that connect northeastern Namibia to the more well-known Karoo rift basins in eastern Africa.

Recon Africa's geology team established a favorable structural framework and depositional basin design using a high-resolution aero-magnetic database. Recon Africa has created a completely integrated structural reconstruction model for the whole Kavango Basin that defines a pull-apart basin with targetable half grabens capable of significant housing thicknesses of Karoo-aged deposits and reef-prone Lower Paleozoic Units.

Regional geologic studies of the Permian Karoo Seaway comprise the major Karoo Basin, Botswana's Kalahari Basin, Namibia's Karasburg, Nama, Waterberg, Huab, and Owambo basins, suggest the possibility for the adequate thickness of resource-prone layers. According to preliminary assessments, basin depths are favorable for oil and gas thermal maturation levels.

A 3D Drilling of Kavago Basin Campaign

The drilling program started in 2021 and aimed to drill three to six wells that year. The primary goal is to validate the existence of organic-rich source rocks and conventional prospects in Namibia and Botswana. Recon Africa's licenses encompass 2.2 million acres in Botswana and 6.3 million acres in Namibia, for a total licensed land area in the Kavango Basin of 8.5 million acres.

By the end of 2021, Recon Africa expects to have completed the following business objectives:

Complete the appraisal of the Kavango Basin's initial well (6-2).

Complete the second well's examination (6-1)

Perform 450km of 2D seismic surveys

Start drilling for well three by YE2021.

Enter into Joint Venture discussions.

Drilling Will Be Carried Out with a 1,000 HP Rig

Earlier this month, Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica), which is a Canadian oil and gas firm, announced the commencement of drilling activities on the first well in Namibia's deep Kavango Basin that is located in the Kalahari Desert's northernmost region.

The well will be drilled as part of an initial three-well program to examine the Kavango basin, dominated by Permian formations.

As part of the bigger and more extensive basin, Recon Africa plans to drill the well to a depth of 12,500 feet to examine the prospective hydrocarbon systems in one of the five key sub-basins of the larger, more extensive basin.

Nick Steinberger, senior vice president of drilling and completions for Reconnaissance Energy Africa, described the possibility to drill the first three wells in the newly discovered Permian basin where a single company holds all of the rights as "an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

It is crucial to note numerous parallels between the Kavango basin and the Permian Basin in West Texas, one of the world's most prolific producing basins. I have been actively drilling and finishing wells for many years." The first potential section well, which will be drilled with a 1,000 HP rig (Jarvie-1), is planned to reach 4,800 feet, where an intermediate casing will be installed. To identify targets, sidewall cores and well logs will be conducted at intervals of 1,000ft to 4,800ft. The well will reach the Permian section's peak at around 4,000 feet.

As soon as Recon Africa receives confirmation of a functional conventional hydrocarbon system inside the first of a possible five sub-basins, the Company will utilize drilling and 2D seismic data to decide the planning and execution of future drilling operations. Additional wells will be dug in 2021 once seismic data has been gathered, with a further two to four wells drilled in the first half of 2022 after the seismic data has been acquired.

The well's second segment is intended to reach a total depth of 12,500 feet by drilling into the intermediate to lower Permian regions. Recon Africa collaborates with Valence Drilling Fluids, a North American company that provides organic and compostable drilling fluids, to conform to its environmental standards.

Agreements on Kavango Basin

As per a Petroleum Agreement between Namibia's Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Namibian state oil business NAMCOR, and Recon Africa's fully-owned Namibian company, Recon Africa owns 90% of Petroleum Exploration License 73, which encompasses the Kavango Basin in northeast Namibia.

The remaining ten percent of the License is owned by NAMCOR, and its expenditures are engrossed throughout the early stages of development. The License provides a multi-stage exploration period that ends on January 29, 2025, or, if amendments are requested and approved, on January 29, 2029.

Following the launch of a commercial discovery, Recon Africa will be granted a 25-year development license under the Petroleum Agreement.

The fiscal conditions of the Oil Treaty provide for 5% royalties and an additional gains tax that occurs later in the life of a productive field. Recon Africa's Namibian subsidiary is required to pay a corporate income tax of 35% in Namibia.

Conclusion

The Kavango Basin is among the newly emerging oil fields, which will eventually benefit the petroleum supply and the oil industry. Despite the criticism regarding the environmental effects of the drilling in the Kavango Basin, the project seems to have plenty of long-term benefits. To find out more amazing content related to pumps and the industry, stay connected.