- ReconAfrica’s Kavango West 1X well produced natural gas and liquids, marking Namibia’s first hydrocarbon flow from an onshore well
- The results do not yet establish commercial viability because equipment limitations prevented accurate measurement of production rates
- Exploration continues in the Hüttenberg formation despite environmental concerns over the project’s proximity to protected areas and the Okavango watersheds
Canadian company ReconAfrica said on Thursday, July 16, that its Kavango West 1X exploration well produced natural gas and liquids during tests of the Elandshoek formation in northeastern Namibia. It marked the first time hydrocarbons had flowed to the surface from an onshore well in the country.
Crews tested three zones in the Elandshoek formation with a combined thickness of 163 meters. The upper zone produced natural gas during three separate tests conducted for a combined total of about 24 hours. Samples were collected and sent to laboratories in the United States for analysis. Hydrocarbons not collected as samples were flared on site.
ReconAfrica said the preliminary results should be interpreted with caution. Limitations in the equipment prevented the company from accurately measuring production flow rates. The company said the results did not determine the rate at which the well would enter production or indicate its future production capacity.
ReconAfrica has moved its testing equipment to the shallower Hüttenberg formation, where well-log analysis identified 76 meters of net hydrocarbon-bearing intervals. Testing is expected to take about 10 days for each zone, with results due by the end of August.
Exploration Draws Environmental Scrutiny
The Kavango Basin is a large geological basin that remains largely unexplored, particularly compared with major African oil and gas regions such as Nigeria’s Niger Delta and Mozambique’s Rovuma Basin. ReconAfrica has been exploring the PEL 73 license there since 2021. It holds a 70% interest in the license, while BW Energy holds 20% and Namibia’s national oil company NAMCOR holds 10%.
Operations were suspended in 2023 because of a lack of financing and later resumed after BW Energy joined the project as a partner. Several wells drilled over the years have encountered hydrocarbons, although no commercially viable discovery has been declared.
The project has also drawn opposition. The exploration area borders the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, one of the world’s largest protected areas, and the Okavango watersheds. Local communities and environmental organizations petitioned Namibia’s High Court in 2022 to challenge ReconAfrica’s environmental permits.
They accused the company of conducting work in protected areas without the required permits, according to National Geographic. ReconAfrica disputed the allegations. Namibia’s High Court dismissed the communities’ case in 2022, but debate over the project’s environmental impact continues.