Saipem’s drillship tasked with appraising Namibia’s light oil discovery

April 27th, 2026

African energy exploration player Rhino Resources has booked a drillship from Italy’s Saipem to undertake appraisal activities at a light oil-bearing reservoir discovery made during a drilling campaign on Block 2914 in the Orange Basin off the coast of Namibia.

Saipem 12000; Source: Saipem

The Saipem 12000 drillship has been contracted to drill the Capricornus-1A well, which is planned to test the extension of the Capricornus light oil discovery in PEL 85, operated by Rhino (42.5%), with co-venturers, including Azule Energy (42.5%), NAMCOR (10%), and Korres Investments (5%).

The Capricornus-1A appraisal well, which is designed to evaluate the lateral extent of the accumulation and further appraise reservoir quality and fluid characteristics within the Lower Cretaceous targets, forms part of the operator and its JV partners’ ongoing program aimed at advancing the understanding of the highly prospective PEL 85 licence area, following the drilling success at Capricornus-1X.

Travis Smithard, Chief Executive Officer of Rhino, commented: “The Capricornus-1A well represents a critical data point in defining the development potential of the Capricornus reservoir system and its potential integration with other discoveries made on PEL 85. The wireline and drill stem data gathered will be analysed in light of flow assurance, geomechanical and fluid characteristics.

“These fluid and dynamic datasets will assist in our ongoing evaluation of the Capricornus discovery and, together with insights from recent wells, will help inform our approach to the further appraisal and development of the broader acreage in collaboration with our partners Azule Energy, NAMCOR and Korres Investments.”

The well is expected to build on the results from Capricornus-1X and across the firm’s wider program, testing the potential extension of the accumulation while continuing to refine the partners’ understanding of the reservoir and fluid distribution across the block.

This comes months after Rhino made a gas condensate discovery at the Volans-1X exploration well offshore Namibia, with a semi-submersible rig, owned by Northern Ocean (NOL) and managed by Odfjell Drilling.