Monitor Exploration Plans to Drill PEL 93 in Namibia by 2027

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 1, the PEL 93 joint venture confirmed that it has applied to the Namibian authorities for entry into the Second Renewal Exploration Phase, planning to prepare and drill at least one exploration well within the two-year period commencing October 3, 2026, with the first well expected to spud in 2027. Monitor Exploration is the operator of PEL 93 with a 55% interest, 88 Energy holds 20%, NAMCOR holds 10%, and Legend Oil Namibia holds 15%. The Second Renewal and related drilling activities remain subject to approval by the Namibian authorities.

The joint venture has identified Prospect 9 as the highest-priority drilling target on PEL 93. Located within the Damara Fold Belt structural trend, the prospect is interpreted as a large anticlinal structure containing multiple stacked reservoir objectives across three stratigraphic horizons, with the primary exploration target being the Otavi carbonate and the Kombat sandstone as a secondary objective. Current technical evaluations rank Prospect 9 as a drillable prospect, and in addition to Prospect 9, PEL 93 has identified 13 other exploration leads and prospects, several of which are comparable in scale to Prospect 9.

Planned activities during the Second Renewal Phase include finalizing well location and drilling targets, completing environmental approvals and baseline surveys for drilling, detailed well design and engineering programs, cost estimation, rig and oilfield service resource assessment, and securing the necessary drilling permits. The joint venture has proposed a minimum exploration expenditure commitment of US$10 million for this two-year exploration period. Based on current interests and the corresponding carry arrangements for NAMCOR and Legend Oil Namibia, 88 Energy expects to contribute approximately US$2.67 million.

PEL 93 currently covers an area of approximately 18,500 square kilometers, encompassing blocks 1717 and 1817 in the onshore Owambo Basin. The joint venture has also applied to relinquish 50% of the existing license area, exceeding the statutory minimum relinquishment of 25%, while planning to retain all 13 identified priority exploration targets and leads. Based on the current area, if the application is approved, the license area would be reduced to approximately 9,250 square kilometers, with the final boundaries subject to government approval.

Over the past two years, the joint venture has completed approximately 203 kilometers of 2D vibroseis seismic acquisition and acquired approximately 6,000 line-kilometers of high-resolution airborne gravity, magnetic, and radiometric survey data. Integrated data interpretation completed in 2026 has further improved subsurface characterization of PEL 93 and upgraded the previous Lead 9 to Prospect 9. Monitor Exploration's project timeline indicates that the current round of approximately 6,000 line-kilometers of airborne geophysical surveys was acquired in Q1 2026, with data interpretation and integration with existing seismic and geological data completed in Q2.

Drilling results from adjacent blocks have also become important new data for the drilling preparations. The Kavango West 1X well in PEL 73, located approximately 100 kilometers east of PEL 93, recently flowed hydrocarbons to surface in tests of both the Elandshoek and Huttenberg formations, after which the operator decided to conduct an open-hole production test in the Huttenberg formation with a horizontal section of up to approximately 1,000 meters. The PEL 93 joint venture is incorporating these results into the ongoing evaluation of Prospect 9 and other targets.

The current unrisked prospective recoverable resource estimate for PEL 93 is approximately 7.6 billion barrels of oil and 32.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. These figures represent exploration-stage prospective resource estimates, and Prospect 9 has not yet been validated by drilling; the joint venture plans to obtain direct subsurface data after completing the first exploration well during the Second Renewal Phase.