Pancontinental Energy has provided the following update in relation to its estimates of prospective resources for the Company's PEL 87 project, Orange Basin, offshore Namibia.
Highlights
- Seismic Quantitative Interpretation results incorporated into a revision of Pancontinental's prospective resource and geological risk estimates
- Oryx prospective resources increased to Best Case (2U) 815 MMbbls and High Case (3U) 1,873 MMbbls (net to PCL)
- Oryx Geological Chance of Success increased to 26.2%
- Ongoing QI results screening reveals additional prospectivity at Phoebe West
Further to Pancontinental's PEL 87 Technical Update announcement of 2 July 2025 the Company has revised its prior estimates of prospective resources and geological risking for the PEL 87 prospect and lead inventory, based upon the results of the Quantitative Interpretation study which indicate potential for a higher net to gross reservoir system than was previously estimated.
Pancontinental Chief Executive Officer Iain Smith commented: 'The Pancontinental technical team continues to deliver, such that we are now able to pinpoint a single well location at the Oryx prospect that offers oil potential at three discrete intervals for a combined 2.5 billion barrels of High Case prospective resource, with a Geological Chance of Success upgraded to 26.2%.'
Tables 1 and 2 provide Pancontinental's revised estimates of Original Oil in Place (OOIP) and Prospective Resources (recoverable) on a 100% gross and 75% net basis, respectively. Also provided for each lead is the revised estimate for Geological Chance of Success (GCoS).
Please refer to the Company's announcement to ASX of 18 March 2025 for full prospect and lead summaries, which remain largely unchanged with the exception that the Oryx prospect now incorporates the prospective features previously identified as the Calypso and Addax Channel leads, due to the fact that it has been determined that all three targets may be effectively tested by a single exploration well. As a result the High Case (3U) prospective resource estimate (gross, 100%) for Oryx now stands at over 2.5 Billion barrels of oil, recoverable.
Of note is that, in general terms, it is the Best Case (2U) prospective resource estimates which have most benefited from the revised inputs, in particular for Oryx and Hyrax (due to their relative maturity, as prospects). The Low Case (1U) and High Case (3U) for each prospect/lead is affected to a lesser degree and the prospective resource estimates for the Addax Fan and Addax South leads remain unchanged, as does the GCoS. The GCoS for the remainder of the prospect/lead inventory has increased, based upon seismic synthetic modelling which provides positive indications for a hydrocarbon fluid effect (interpreted as a low gas-oil-ratio oil). As such the estimated GCoS for the main Oryx prospect now stands at 26.2% (previous estimate 22.5%).
Cautionary Statement: Prospective Resources are the estimated quantities of petroleum that may potentially be recovered by the application of a future development project related to undiscovered accumulations. These estimates have both an associated risk of discovery and a risk of development. Further exploration, appraisal and evaluation are required to determine the existence of a significant quantity of potentially recoverable hydrocarbons.
Additional Prospectivity Identified at Phoebe West
The ongoing QI screening has recently resulted in mapping of an additional prospective feature, external to the Saturn Complex. The Phoebe West lead is interpreted as an Albian-to-Aptian basinal turbidite fan feature fed by a long-lived northern channel clastic bypass depositional system. Interpretation of this feature is ongoing at this time and Pancontinental anticipates providing further detail soon.
About PEL 87
Petroleum Exploration Licence 87 (PEL 87) is located in the offshore Orange Basin, southern Namibia (refer Figure 2). The permit covers an area of 10,970 km2 and is situated on-trend with a number of very significant hydrocarbon discoveries that have been made in recent times by Galp Energia, TotalEnergies, and Shell.
PEL 87 was awarded to a joint venture led by Pancontinental in early 2018 for up to 3 terms over 8 years (plus subsequent extensions) and may be converted to a Production Licence under pre-agreed terms. PEL 87 is presently within the first renewal exploration period that commenced on 23 January 2024 and will end 22 January 2026. This period includes an associated work commitment to drill one exploration well or, if a drillable prospect is not identified, acquire either 500 km2 of 3D seismic data or 1,000 line kms of 2D seismic data.
Source: Pancontinental Energy
