New Article - Russian partner VERY BULLISH!
https://allafrica.com/stories/200801280741.html
Namibia: Russians to Drill for Oil
New Era (Windhoek)
28 January 2008
Posted to the web 28 January 2008
Catherine Sasman
Windhoek
Sintezneftegaz Namibia (Pty) Ltd is to start drilling for oil along the Namibian coastline at the end of February, months ahead of its initial plans to start the drilling operations in October, as announced earlier.
Representative in Namibia, Dr Valentine Vladimirovich, told New Era last Friday that the drilling ship, the Deep Venture, will arrive at Walvis Bay at the beginning of February, upon which the first drilling is likely to commence within 60 days. The entire process, he said, is estimated to cost US$100 million, which will include four supply vessels, air support, emergency units and a crew complement of more than 100.
The company expects to have a full report out by April on the findings of the drilling expedition. Sintezneftegaz Namibia is a subsidiary company of the Russian-owned Sintez Group, which was granted an exploration licence to develop offshore and onshore oilfields in Namibia for Block 1711 in the Namibe Basin in June 2006. The area covers 8931 square kilometres.
The Sintez Group holds 70 percent shareholding in Sintezneftegaz Namibia. Other shareholders are Energulf Namibia with 10 percent shareholding, South African national oil company, PetroSa (10 percent), NAMCOR (7 percent), and 3 percent to BEE component. According to the contract signed with the Namibian Government's Ministry of Mines and Energy, the three percent BEE component is to be decided upon by the Namibian Government.
"We are prepared to work with anyone," said Vladimirovich. Petroleum Commissioner with the Mines Mi-nistry, Immanuel Mulunga, said he did not know if the BEE partners have been decided upon yet. The deputy director of energy with the Ministry could also not say if the BEE partners have so far been identified and Minister of Mines, Erkki Nghimtina, was unavailable.
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According to Mulunga, Sintezneftegaz Namibia pays an annual rental of N$600000 for the area and a further US$100000 annually towards the Petro Fund. Vladimirovich said the company had already spent US$10 million to determine the exact parameters for the drilling exercise. Through a Russian interpreter, he told New Era that drilling would go to a depth of 3200 to 4500 metres, but that the company would consider drilling as deep as 5500 metres if need be. "We expect to find oil at a depth of 4000 metres [approximately 4 kilometres]," said an upbeat Vladimirovich. From the geological and seismic data received, the company expects a minimum yield of 100 million tonnes of light crude oil, of the quality found in Nigeria and Angola, which is easier to refine than heavy crude oil.
The characteristics of the licensed zone are identical to those of the northern sedimentary basins of the Congo and Kwanza in Angola, where several large fields with considerable oil and gas content were found. "It would be very exciting to know that Russians were the first to find oil in Namibia," said Vladimirovich.
Said Mulunga, who in 2003 predicted that there might be oil in the Namibe Basin: "Depending on the commercial discovery, finding oil would bring about major changes to Namibia, no doubt. The question is whether the country is ready for such a find and whether it has the necessary institutions in place to cope."