Oil Could Transform Namibia!

[Michael Alexander]

I have been stressing this point for the last two years that this gov has the opportunity to make Namibia the showcase country of Africa, IF IT MANAGES IT"S OIL HONESTLY!

"Potential crude oil resources off the coast of Namibia could have a considerable impact on the country that has a population of just over 2 million.
Paul Welch, CEO of oil exploration company Chariot Oil & Gas, says that if substantial amounts of oil are found and Namibia continues with its current business-friendly policies, the country could be transformed into an economy like Norway. "It will be a true gem . . . I think Norway would be probably the best equivalent to what you would expect if Namibia maintains the current path that it is on," Welch told How we made it in Africa during a telephonic interview.
Through seismic surveys, Chariot has indentified potential oil resources of 16.1 billion barrels within the areas in which it operates. These are, however, only potential reserves and until exploration wells are drilled nothing can be guaranteed.
"[Namibia] is very much a frontier exploration area that has tremendous potential, but until you have a significant discovery, it is still going to have a large amount of uncertainty associated with it," Welch explained.
He said that if the Namibian government's estimates of total potential resources prove to be correct, it would put the country's reserves on par with that of Nigeria. "The Ministry of Mines and Energy has done a study of offshore Namibia, and they have identified 44 billion barrels of potential off the coast – in areas that we have under lease and areas that other companies have under lease."
Chariot's activities in Namibia since 2007 will hit a significant milestone at the end of this year, when the company plans to drill its first exploration well.
Although Welch was reluctant to put a time frame on when actual full-scale oil production is likely to begin, he said that it would probably take about three years from the first discovery. If Chariot's first exploration well proves to be commercially viable, one could therefore expect production to come on stream in 2015.
Why only now?
But why is Namibia's oil potential only now being explored? "There are two reasons for that. One has to do with the history of Namibia as a nation and the second has to do with Namibia's geology," said Welch.
Namibia gained full independence from South Africa in 1990; it was only then that oil and gas exploration started in earnest. Welch noted that most early exploration activities were, however, unsuccessful "because they were drilled in the wrong place". At that stage it was also very costly for companies to drill in deep waters and they "didn't have the kind of 3D seismic that we have today that allows us essentially to penetrate the rock and understand it much better than they could have in the early 1990s".
Earlier exploration focused on the shallower offshore areas, while according to Welch, the real potential lies in the deeper waters.
Economic impact
Welch reckons that any significant oil discovery will have a "dramatic impact" on Namibia's economy. The country is expected to benefit tremendously from royalties and taxes paid by oil companies as well as the employment opportunities that will be created.
He compares Namibia's current situation with that of Brazil around a decade ago. "You can think of Namibia today . . . to something similar to what you would have seen in Brazil say ten years ago, where you had some small inklings of potential, but people needed to go out and drill some wells before they could prove it. [Brazil] has gone from essentially an importing country, to an exporting country with regard to crude oil products.
"The difference between Namibia and Brazil is that there are only 2.1 million people in Namibia, so every barrel discovered in Namibia is going to make a tremendous difference."

[Dalene Steenkamp (Coetzee)]

"Welch reckons that any significant oil discovery will have a "dramatic impact" on Namibia's economy. The country is expected to benefit tremendously from royalties and taxes paid by oil companies as well as the employment opportunities that will be created."   



And let us hope that truly happens and will be the case ...   Will be nice to have an input on this from other's viewpoint as well.  Not going to stretch my mouth too wide about it for now.

[Robert Bruce]

Any benefit to the Namibian nation as a whole to mirror Norway in terms of uplift in lifestyle, medical services, social care and infrastructure will be profoundly difficult to achieve.

Norway has a deep and rich social history behind it that has evolved over a long time into the structure it now has. I doubt Namibia would ever be able to emulate Norway. Underpinning any financial abundance in Africa is the degree of greed to which the top of the offialdom tree would ever permit their people a share of.

I do not see ordinary Namibians deriving their share of the financial windfall oil could bring. Perhaps Mr Welch would care to tell you how he will ensure government corruption will not impede the flow of money to where it is needed most so that you do benefit.

[Michael Alexander]

..... and if it was enriched, what would stop the rest of "poor" Africa streaming across her borders to the land of plenty....

[Robert Bruce]

Here are a selection from some photo I took from the ground floor of the office at Oslo, Norway. Do you think Walvis or Swakopmund could provide this resource for business?







Err where are the pics?

[Mike Stenson (RIP)]

[Robert Bruce]

OK just like Xmas in OM we can lay down some fake snow on the windows and a few sandunes to imitate Oslo...! But I guess that if people really, really want to do something and do get the funding, they can and will doit and make Walvis a good place to be.

Hell, they did it in Dubai inonly five years so why not in Namibia?

[Michael Alexander]

Chariot Oil & Gas has announced that its subsidiary, Enigma Oil & Gas Exploration, has entered into a farm-out agreement with BP.

Under the terms of the agreement, BP has committed to cover Chariot's cost of drilling the first exploration well at a prospect off the Namibian coast, as well as past costs incurred.

BP will acquire a 50% share of Chariot's equity interest in 'Southern Block 2714A', which covers an area of 5,481km².

Chariot said it would now be able to continue its drilling campaign in the area while being able to share in the costs, risks and rewards of exploration.

Funds received and retained through the deal would be used in further exploration and appraisal work, it said.

However, it stressed that the agreement remained subject to the full approval of the Ministry of Mines and Energy in Namibia.

Chariot's share price rose almost 10% by lunchtime on Monday following the news.

Paul Welch, chief executive of Chariot, said: "It has been a key strategic objective for us to farm down our assets in order to facilitate exploration drilling, retain capital and mitigate risk; we are very pleased to have made progress towards this".

Andrew McGreary, analyst at Northland Capital Partners, said: the BP farm out would "release funds for further exploration and reduce Chariot's risk exposure, whilst maintaining it with a material stake in the project".

"The Southern well is likely to cost in the region of $60m, so the company has effectively offset $30m exposure and gained around $20m in back costs - a strong deal," he said.

"Having spoken to management there is potentially further news to come on the Northern block where drilling is planned for this November (est. cost $65m), though this is dependent on rig options with two working and one new build under consideration."