NAMIBIA: 88 Energy Awards Polaris 2D Seismic Acquisition Contract for PEL 93

88 Energy has announced the awarding of the 2D seismic data acquisition program for PEL 93 to Polaris. This program is set to acquire a minimum of ~200-line km of low-impact 2D seismic.

88 Energy, through its wholly-owned Namibian subsidiary, holds a 20% working interest in PEL 93, which covers 18,500km2 of underexplored sub-surface within the Owambo Basin in Namibia. The Company can earn up to a 45% non-operated working interest in PEL 93 via its existing three-stage farm-in agreement.

Following a period of planning, public consultation, and receipt of relevant approvals, the program is expected to commence mid-2024. It will focus on confirming the structural closures of the 10 independent leads identified from airborne geophysical methods and partly verified using existing 2D seismic coverage.

The 2D seismic program is expected to be completed in Q3 2024, with processing of the data anticipated to be completed in Q4 2024. Results from the 2D seismic program will then be incorporated into existing historical exploration data over the acreage and used to identify possible exploration drilling locations.

Subsurface investigations completed to date on PEL 93 by Monitor (since its award in 2018) have incorporated a range of geophysical and geochemical techniques to assess and validate the significant potential of the acreage. This included airborne geophysical methods, reprocessing of existing 2D seismic coverage, as well as measuring methane and ethane concentrations in soil samples over interpreted structural leads, validating the existence of an active petroleum system. Passive seismic anomalies from this work were noted to align closely to both interpreted structural leads and measured alkane molecules (c1-c5) concentrations in soil.

Significant New Structural Play Identified

A series of large, anticlinal structures have been identified in the onshore Owambo Basin, collectively expected to represent a resource of equivilant size to recent offshore Namibian discoveries.

Initial exploration in the Owambo Basin has focused on the shallow Karoo Play, however attention has turned to the substantial potential of the deeper and largely untested Damara Play.

The Damara Play resulted from a large fold and thrust episode, providing significant independent targets for exploration of an equivalent size to those discovered offshore Namibia, where an exploration renaissance is underway with ~88% success rate (with recent wells discovering oil).

Monitor has utilised a range of geophysical and geochemical techniques to identify and validate the significant potential of the acreage.

PEL 93, Owambo Basin, Onshore Namibia

Damara Play Drilling In 2H 2024

Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd (ReconAfrica) are planning on drilling and testing 3 to 4 wells in well-defined prospects within two distinct regional plays (Karoo and Damara), as part of an initial exploration drilling campaign in PEL073 and PEL001, located on the flanks of the Owambo basin.

The Damara Play is characterised by several coherent, mappable, large fold and thrust structures which generated 19 prospects and 4 leads certified by third party resource auditor, NSAI. The target structures observed are up to 25km in length and 3 to 5km wide. Reservoirs are expected to be encountered in both the marine/fluvial sandstones of the Mulden formation as well as the fractured carbonates of the Otavi Supergroup. The Otavi group was penetrated in well 6-2 and contained oil shows on mud logs as well as oil saturations in side-wall cores.

The Pre-Rift Karoo play interval is interpreted to be late Neo-Proterozoic to Early Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks which are analogous to the sediments of the Owambo Basin to the west.

Given their depth, modelled maturation, geological age and geochemical data from wells and seeps, the hydrocarbons are expected to be both light oil and gas.

[1] From ReconAfrica announcement dated 14 March 2024 on the TSX – NSAI Prospective resource Estimates