FRENCH supermajor TotalEnergies is gearing up to spud its much-hyped Venus deep-water wildcat offshore Namibia at the end of the next quarter. The probe will target a multi-billion-barrel structure in Namibia's sector of the promising Orange basin that also extends into South Africa, so a discovery would trigger a rush of drilling plans on both sides of the countries' maritime boundary. The wildcat will be drilled by the drillship Maersk Voyager, which is currently working in Angolan waters for TotalEnergies - which at the end of last month changed its named from Total. One of TotalEnergies' key partners in Venus is privately owned Impact Oil & Gas, in which Africa Oil is a key shareholder. According to Africa Oil chief executive Keith Hill, the Maersk Voyager is due to arrive in mid-September, adding that "it could be a bit earlier and could be later". He said Venus will not take too log to drill because, while it is located in about 3000 metres of water, the objective is "not that deep below mudline".
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