Exploration and production company AziNam continually looks at new countries and opportunities around oil and gas in Africa, says MD David Sturt, but each time its view of the attractiveness of the opportunities available in Namibia is reinstated.

In line with this, AziNam is applying high-quality three-dimensional (3D) seismic data to come to terms with Namibia’s largely unknown geology – a move that it believes will prove to be the turning point in the country’s offshore drilling.

In April, AziNam had already acquired two broadband 3D seismic surveys and planned to acquire more in the second half of 2015 and into 2016.

“The company also intends to have all of its data integrated into a comprehensive, constantly evolving study.

Access to all the data available over the basin, especially the proprietary data from our six licences, has given us a pretty good picture of the whole basin – an invaluable perspective when it comes to frontier exploration,” Sturt says.

Not only does AziNam see this as unique, but “it’s also the most prudent way to go about finding commercial hydrocarbons offshore”, he adds.

A key feature of the company’s future plans is to investigate why various wells have come up dry in the last year and a half.

AziNam has studied in great detail all the dry holes off the shore of Namibia and quickly realised that many of the wells would not have been drilled if good-quality modern 3D seismic data had been used.
In addition, Sturt highlights the doubts surrounding the validity of the prospects that have been drilled in the last year and a half.

“What the dry holes did is derisk the petroleum system – in the Walvis basin. The wells have proved all the elements of a petroleum system – in other words, mature effective source, reservoir, seal and traps. We just need to find all the ingredients in the right mix.”
Sturt notes that once this has been achieved, Namibia’s potential as a destination of oil and gas exploration will be untold.

AziNam is focused on inorganic growth opportunities, particularly as the company has such a large database that can be leveraged to identify opportunities that are not fully understood.
Sturt was a keynote speaker at this year’s Oil Council Africa Assembly, taking place in Paris from June 23 to 25.

AziNam is one of six regionally focused exploration companies funded by Seacrest Capital. It has six licences off the shore of Namibia, roughly divided into three partnerships with Chariot Oil & Gas, Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas and Tullow Oil and Maurel et Prom.

In May, AziNam received government approval for it to assume operatorship of petroleum exploration licence 34, off the shore of Namibia.