TotalEnergies, a French oil supermajor, has spudded the ultra-deepwater Venus-1X exploration well in Block 2913B, offshore southern Namibia, utilising Maersk Drilling’s Maersk Voyager drillship in water depths of 3,000 metres, potentially revolutionising the energy industry of the southern African country.

In an announcement by Impact Oil and Gas, it stated that the well is targeting a large basin floor fan system, which is expected to contain significant undiscovered petroleum resources in place following the acquisition of 2D and 3D seismic data in 2014, which defined the Venus prospect.

In mid-November, Maersk Drilling’s Maersk Voyager drillship proceeded from Luanda, Angola, to Namibia, where it drilled the Ondjaba-1 Well to record-breaking depths of 3,628 metres.

Siraj Ahmed, CEO of Impact Oil & Gas, stated, “This is an exciting moment for Impact and our shareholders. Impact, together with our partners in the Government of Namibia, have been working to mature and drill the Venus prospect since 2014. Venus-1X is a world-class, basin operating well, which, if successful, could be transformative for Namibia.

“I am very pleased that drilling operations for Venus-1X have commenced,” stated Keith Hill, President and CEO of Africa Oil, a shareholder in Impact Oil & Gas, adding, “As a potential basin opening well, if successful, this could be a high-impact catalyst for our shareholders.”

Block 2913B is by TotalEnergies (40%), Impact Oil & Gas (20%), Qatari state-owned petroleum company, Qatar Energy (30%), and Namibian state oil company, Namcor (10%).