Rhino Resources, an indigenous privately owned oil company, has successfully completed the drilling of the Sagittarius-1X well at the PEL 85 license in the Orange Basin, offshore Namibia.
The company announced the discovery on Tuesday, confirming the presence of a hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir.
The well, drilled using the Noble Venturer drillship, was spudded on December 18, 2024, and reached total depth on February 6, 2025. According to Rhino, it encountered a hydrocarbon reservoir and penetrated Upper Cretaceous targets without any visible water contact.
The drilling campaign follows Rhino’s initial announcement in November 2024 to commence its first exploration drilling in Namibia’s Orange Basin in early 2025, marking a decade of exploration in the country.
This milestone was also highlighted by NAMCOR, a joint project stakeholder.
With the completion of drilling operations at Sagittarius-1X, the Noble Venturer drillship has now moved to the next target in the program, the Capricornus prospect, which will test a different fairway.
Extensive wireline logging operations enabled the collection of hydrocarbon samples and sidewall cores, with further laboratory analysis planned to confirm the fluid and reservoir properties.
Commenting on the achievement, Rhino CEO Travis Smithard stated:
“We are pleased to have safely and successfully completed the drilling of the first exploration well in our program 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 program, 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.”
Rhino Resources holds a 42.5% interest in PEL 85, alongside partners Azule Energy (42.5%), NAMCOR (10%), and Korres Investments (5%).
TotalEnergies, which previously discovered the Venus oil field, is among the many companies exploring offshore Namibia, an area believed to be one of the most significant hydrocarbon prospects.
