Shell Makes ‘Most Promising Subsurface’ Find in Well Offshore Namibia

(Credit: QatarEnergy)

Shell and its partners QatarEnergy and Namibia's national oil company NAMCOR have reported encouraging results from the Merlin-1X exploration well in Petroleum Exploration License 0039 (PEL 0039) offshore Namibia, with the well delivering the most promising subsurface results to date in the license area.

Merlin-1X, the tenth well drilled under the license and operated by Shell, was spudded on April 8, 2026 and successfully penetrated the Coniacian play. The well encountered good reservoir quality with light oil and limited associated gas, compared with previous results within the license.

The discovery further advances the partners' evaluation of the Orange Basin block and supports continued assessment of the resource and its commercial potential.

“These are encouraging results that add to our understanding of the Orange Basin potential. We are progressing this opportunity through a disciplined, data-led approach to establish commerciality, focusing our investment on options that are material, competitive and resilient within our portfolio.

“This is built on strong partnership and alignment, and I thank the Government of the Republic of Namibia, our partners and all teams involved,” said Eugene Okpere, Shell’s Executive Vice President for Exploration, Strategy and Portfolio.

QatarEnergy described Merlin-1X as an oil discovery and said the results strengthened confidence in the Orange Basin as an emerging hydrocarbon province.

“We are pleased with this discovery, which follows three earlier discovery announcements in Namibia. These results represent a significant step that further strengthens confidence in the Orange Basin as an emerging world-class hydrocarbon province and aligns with QatarEnergy’s strategy to expand its international upstream portfolio through high-impact exploration,” added Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and CEO of QatarEnergy.

Shell said further drilling later in 2026 is under consideration as part of a broader exploration and appraisal program.

PEL 0039 covers approximately 12,000 square kilometers in deep water more than 250 kilometers offshore.

Over the past four years, the joint venture has drilled ten wells in the licence, including Graff-1X, La Rona-1X, Jonker-1X, Graff-1A, Lesedi-1X, Cullinan-1X, Jonker-1A, Jonker-2A, Enigma-1X and Merlin-1X.

QatarEnergy holds a 45% interest in PEL 0039 and also has interests in three other offshore Namibian exploration licenses, with its total acreage position in the country covering approximately 34,000 square kilometers.