Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd (LON: ECO, CVE: EOG) told investors it is advancing the Osprey lead, offshore Namibia, towards exploration drilling.
The company said in a statement that it is filing for Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) for a proposed well which would provide the key clearance necessary for drilling, it added.
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Osprey, in the Cooper block in Namibia’s Walvis basin is being reviewed by Eco’s exploration partner Tullow Oil plc (LON:TLW) , one of the key players in the breakthrough Jubilee oil field offshore Ghana.
The block has been estimated to host potential for some 882mln barrels of oil resources.
Eco is project operator, it owns a 32.5% stake, and both Eco’s in-house team and Tullow’s exploration team are overseeing the seismic data processing and interpretation, and both have a positive outlook on the prospect.
The company added that “all concur that there is a "highly justifiable lead” and an exact well location is presently being decided.
Colin Kinley, Eco's chief operating officer, said: “We are confident in the detailed and conservative work carried out thus far on the Osprey lead on Cooper by our own team and that of our partners and we continue to advance our learnings in the region through the interpretation of our own four blocks and through our partnership ties to the other block holders in the Walvis Basin.”
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Kinley said Namibia exploration frontier is witnessing a “resurgence of interest and activity”.
“We see this continuing into 2018 with a number of majors and independent E&P companies undertaking drilling activity in the blocks surrounding Cooper Block, including wells announced by Tullow Oil and Chariot Oil & Gas in the offsetting blocks to Eco's acreage."
Tullow own 25% of the Cooper block - alongside fellow partners AziNam Ltd (with 32.5%) and state backed oil firm NAMCOR which retains 10% - though it has the option to increase its stake by 10% to 35% in exchange for a covering well costs.