TotalEnergies Prepares Major Offshore Drilling Campaign in South African Waters
French energy giant TotalEnergies is planning an extensive drilling campaign offshore South Africa in the Deep Western Orange Basin, with plans to drill up to seven wells targeting prospects similar to major nearby discoveries in Namibian waters.
TotalEnergies EP South Africa (TEEPSA) will explore the Deep Western Orange basin located 211 km offshore from the coastal town of Saldanha Bay in waters ranging from 500 to 3,900 meters deep. The company’s area of interest covers 15,000 square kilometers, with the proposed drilling campaign including vertical seismic profiling, testing, and plugging and abandonment operations.
The 3,000 square kilometer DWOB block borders Namibia to the north and sits within the same offshore basin as the major Venus and Graff discoveries. The block encounters several of the same geological plays, with two levels of prospectivity existing in Lower Cretaceous basin floor fans equivalent to the Venus discovery, and Upper Cretaceous leads sharing a common trapping mechanism with major Namibian discoveries.
“We have some attractive licenses just across the border and we have actually two or three prospects. We are working in South Africa, the process to get all the authorizations is quite a little long, but we hope to begin to drill South Africa targets in 2026,” TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné told analysts during the company’s Q2 earnings call.
TEEPSA operates the DWOB block with a 40% interest, partnered with QatarEnergy (30%), Sezigyn Pty. (20%), and Petrobras (10%). The company must obtain Environmental Authorization from the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources prior to commencing exploration activities. Meanwhile, rival oil major Shell has already received environmental authorization to drill up to five deepwater wells off South Africa’s west coast, indicating growing industry interest in the region following successful discoveries across the maritime border in Namibia.
Sources: ogj.com, worldoil.com, oilprice.com
