Australia-headquartered Grand Gulf Energy has secured a binding option agreement to acquire Wrangel, potentially gaining access to a coveted 70% working interest in Namibia’s offshore Block 2312 in the promising Walvis Basin. The strategic deal represents a low-cost entry opportunity into what has rapidly become one of the world’s hottest frontier basins for oil exploration.
The massive 16,800-square-kilometer block sits in water depths ranging from 1,400 to 2,000 meters, near the significant Murombe-1 and Wingat-1 exploration wells that helped establish Namibia’s petroleum potential. If the acquisition proceeds, Grand Gulf would partner with Namibia’s TSE Oil and Gas (20%) and the state-owned National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) (10%).
Namibia’s offshore areas have attracted intense interest following a string of major discoveries that have yielded over 11 billion barrels in estimated reserves, drawing industry giants including Shell, Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Galp. The region has demonstrated an exceptional success rate exceeding 80% across 23 exploration and appraisal wells drilled between 2022 and early 2025.
Shell’s Graff-1 discovery in 2022 is widely credited with catapulting Namibia to global prominence in oil exploration, followed shortly by TotalEnergies’ even larger multi-billion-barrel Venus-1 discovery and later Galp’s significant Mopane-1X find. Industry experts note that seven additional wells are scheduled for drilling this year, including two by TotalEnergies.
Grand Gulf has conducted a comprehensive technical review of available data for Block 2312, identifying several promising exploration targets. Particular interest centers on Prospect B northeast of the previously drilled Prospect S, along with Prospects W and V which have access to the outboard oil kitchen. The company plans to leverage approximately 6,100 square kilometers of 3D seismic data and 4,700 line kilometers of 2D seismic to refine these targets.
Source: offshore-energy.biz
