One well down as Noble drillship moves to drill next prospect offshore Namibia

A 2014-built drillship, owned by the U.S.-headquartered offshore drilling giant Noble Corporation, has wrapped up its work on the first exploration well in Rhino Resources’ multi-well campaign in the Orange Basin off the coast of Namibia and began activities at the next prospect on its drilling list.

Rhino Resources’ operated drilling campaign on Block 2914 in Namibia’s Orange Basin is currently underway. The Sagittarius 1-X well, which was spud on December 18, 2024, using the Noble Venturer drillship, reached total depth on February 6, 2025, penetrating Upper Cretaceous targets. The well intersected a hydrocarbon reservoir with no observed water contact.

The operator has disclosed on behalf of the PEL85 JV that intensive wireline logging operations allowed for the collection of hydrocarbon samples and sidewall cores. As a result, fluid and reservoir properties will be confirmed by laboratory analysis. According to the company, the drilling operations have now concluded, thus, the rig has moved to drill the second well in the program, Capricornus, which will test a different fairway.

Commenting on the initial well results, Travis Smithard, Rhino’s CEO, highlighted: “We are pleased to have safely and successfully completed the drilling of the first exploration well in our programme on PEL 85. The hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir encountered is evidence for the effectiveness of charge, although further assessment will be required by Rhino and the PEL 85 JV partners to evaluate the results of the well.

“Our attention now turns to the second target in the programme, which is the Capricornus prospect, a NE-SW trending channel system. The Capricornus-1X well is due to be spud within the next 24 hours and is estimated to take 47 days to drill.”

Constructed at Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in Korea, the 2014-built Noble Venturer drillship can operate in water depths of 12,000 feet (3.66 kilometers), and its maximum drilling depth is 40,000 feet (12.19 kilometers). This rig can accommodate 230 people. 

The Noble Venturer drillship will begin its assignment with Tullow Ghana, a subsidiary of the UK-based Tullow Oil, in May 2025 in direct continuation after the completion of a campaign for Rhino Resources.

Many companies are searching for more hydrocarbons offshore Namibia, including TotalEnergies, which made the Venus oil discovery, perceived to be one of the more significant hydrocarbon plays.

Recently, the French oil major put off a final investment decision (FID) for the Venus development in the Orange Basin until 2026. Further appraisal activities in Namibia’s Block 2913B with more drilling and well testing are on the 2025 agenda to assist in confirming reserve estimates and development planning.