TotalEnergies drills dry hole offshore Namibia
- TotalEnergies' Marula-1X well targeted Albian aged sandstones about 47 km south of the Venus-1X well offshore Namibia.
- No hydrocarbons were encountered in the primary target.
TotalEnergies EP Namibia BV drilled a dry hole at the Marula-1X well on Block 2913B (PEL 56) offshore Namibia, said Africa Oil Corp. in an Apr. 28 release.
Marula-1X was drilled using the Deepsea Mira semi-submersible rig to a total depth of 6,460 m MD and targeted Albian aged sandstones within the Marula fan complex (OGJ Online, Feb. 6, 2025).
No hydrocarbons were encountered in the primary target, and no drill stem test was performed. A comprehensive analysis of the well results is now under way.
Block 2913B lies in water depths of 2,500-3,250 m, adjacent to the South Africa maritime boundary. The license lies within the Orange River basin, shared between both Namibia and South Africa. Block 2913B covers about 8,215 sq km. Marula-1X was drilled about 47 km south of the Venus-1X light oil discovery (OGJ Online, Dec. 1, 2021).
TotalEnergies is operator of Block 2913B (50.5%) with partners Impact Oil and Gas Namibia (Pty) Ltd. (9.5%), QatarEnergy (30.0%), and NAMCOR (10.0%). Africa Oil, through its 39.5% interest in Impact, has an effective interest of about 3.8% in the block.
Alex Procyk | Upstream Editor
Alex Procyk is Upstream Editor at Oil & Gas Journal. He has also served as a principal technical professional at Halliburton and as a completion engineer at ConocoPhillips. He holds a BS in chemistry (1987) from Kent State University and a PhD in chemistry (1992) from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).