Rhino Resources Namibia Ltd. discovered an oil-bearing sandstone reservoir in a second appraisal in petroleum exploration license 85, offshore Orange basin, Namibia.

The Capricornus-1A appraisal well was drilled in Block 2914 in the eastern portion of the Capricornus fairway, which was established by the discovery at the Capricornus-1X well. The well was spudded on May 2, 2026, with the Saipem 12000 drillship, in 1,285 m of water. It reached 4,818 m MD on June 11, 2026. 

The well intersected a gross reservoir interval of 46 m. A representative core of the main reservoir section was acquired, and a full suite of wireline logging and formation evaluation data was collected.

Preliminary analysis of downhole pressure data indicates the presence of an oil-bearing sandstone reservoir in pressure communication with the reservoir fairway discovered by the Capricornus-1X well. The results provide further evidence of reservoir continuity across the Capricornus accumulation and represent an important data point in the ongoing appraisal of the discovery, the company said.

The core, pressure, and wireline datasets acquired from Capricornus-1A will be integrated with data gathered from previous wells across PEL 85 to support the joint venture’s ongoing appraisal and exploration activities.

Rhino is operator of the license joint venture with 42.5% interest. Co-venturers are Azule Energy (42.5%), NAMCOR (10%), and Korres Investments (5%). bp plc and Eni SPA each hold a 50% interest in Azule Energy, which entered the block in 2024.