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Pancontinental Energy is advancing preparations for a new exploration well in Namibia’s offshore Orange Basin, with plans to drill within a proposed two-year renewal period for Petroleum Exploration Licence 87 (PEL 87).
The company, through its wholly owned subsidiary Pancontinental Orange Pty Ltd, has applied to the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy to enter the licence’s second renewal exploration period, scheduled to begin on 23 January 2027. The application includes a firm commitment to drill an exploration well within the two-year period and reprocess approximately 4,200 km² of existing 3D seismic data.
The proposed drilling programme remains subject to approval of the renewal application. Alongside the renewal process, Pancontinental has appointed DUG Technology to undertake an initial seismic reprocessing project intended to improve the quality of geological data across prospects within the licence area. The work will target seismic interference and signal attenuation that could affect the interpretation of potential hydrocarbon deposits.
“The primary aim of the project is to reduce high-energy multiples which are present within pre-migration gather data in the vicinity of the PEL 87 prospects and to then re-migrate the data to address an amplitude attenuation effect which is evident within the far and ultrafar offset data,” noted the company.
The initial reprocessing programme is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. Its findings will inform a broader exercise targeted to begin in early 2027, providing further data to support the evaluation of exploration prospects. “The project is anticipated to be completed by calendar year-end, and the results will inform the broader reprocessing project targeted to commence early next year,” the company stated.
Pancontinental is also engaging potential partners to support further exploration activities within PEL 87. Covering approximately 10,970 km² offshore southern Namibia, the licence lies along the Orange Basin geological trend, where several significant hydrocarbon discoveries have been made. Pancontinental holds a 75% participating interest in PEL 87, with Custos Investments owning 15% and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) holding the remaining 10%.
