African energy exploration player Rhino Resources has shed light on the appraisal of an oil discovery in the Orange Basin, confirming a connected oil-bearing reservoir at its appraisal well off the coast of Namibia.
Rhino Resources’ update on behalf of the PEL 85 joint venture (JV) regarding its drilling campaign on Block 2914 offshore Namibia indicates that the Capricornus-1A appraisal well was drilled in the eastern portion of the Capricornus fairway, which was established by the discovery at the Capricornus-1X well .
The well was spudded on May 2, 2026, with the Saipem 12000 drillship in a water depth of 1,285 meters and reached a total depth of 4,818 meters measured depth on June 11, 2026. The company claims that drilling operations were completed safely and without incident.
The appraisal well intersected a gross reservoir interval of 46 meters. A representative core of the main reservoir section was acquired, and a full suite of wireline logging and formation evaluation data was collected.
The preliminary analysis of downhole pressure data indicates the presence of an oil-bearing sandstone reservoir in pressure communication with the reservoir fairway discovered by the Capricornus-1X well.
Travis Smithard , Chief Executive Officer of Rhino Resources, commented: “The Capricornus-1A well has delivered important information that advances our understanding of the morphology of the Capricornus reservoir system.
“Confirmation of pressure communication with Capricornus-1X provides evidence of reservoir continuity across the accumulation and increases our drilling confidence as we continue to advance the appraisal of the Capricornus discovery.”
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The results are interpreted to provide further evidence of reservoir continuity across the Capricornus accumulation and represent an important data point in the ongoing appraisal of the discovery.
The core, pressure and wireline datasets acquired from Capricornus-1A will now be integrated with data gathered from previous wells across PEL 85 to support the joint venture’s ongoing appraisal and exploration activities.
Smithard emphasized: “The well has also provided critical information on deeper geological intervals that were not encountered at Capricornus-1X, improving our understanding of how subsurface structures are defining the play fairways across the licence area.
“Together with the extensive datasets gathered from our previous discoveries, these results provide further insights for our part of the Orange Basin and will help inform the next phase of appraisal drilling across the Capricornus accumulation and additional exploration targets across PEL 85.”
PEL 85 is operated by Rhino with a working interest of 42.5%, with co-venturers being Azule Energy (42.5%), NAMCOR (10%), and Korres Investments (5%).