Canadian oil and gas explorer Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica) has provided a drilling update on what the company’s leadership calls its largest and most attractive well, known as Prospect I.  

Prospect I is located onshore Namibia in Petroleum Exploration Licence 073. 

It is ReconAfrica’s largest prospect to be drilled so far. 

With this exploration well, the company revealed that it targets 365 million barrels of unrisked and 32 million barrels of risked prospective light/medium oil resources or 1.9 trillion cubic feet of unrisked and 140 billion cubic feet of risked prospective natural gas resources. 

These prospects are based on the most recent potential resources report prepared by Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc, an independent qualified reserves evaluator. 

ReconAfrica pointed out that prospective resources are those quantities of oil estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations by application of future development projects. 

Prospective resources have both an associated chance of discovery and development. 

Prospective resources are the arithmetic sum of multiple probability distributions.

 Unrisked prospective resources are estimates of the volumes that could reasonably be expected to be recovered in the event of the discovery and development of these prospects. 

Brian Reinsborough, president and CEO of ReconAfrica, stated: “We are excited to be making great progress ahead of drilling one of the company’s largest and most attractive prospects. The results of the Naingopo exploration well, announced in January 2025, increased our confidence in the potential for Prospect I. We remain on track to spud the well this quarter, and are looking forward to unlocking the significant potential of the Damara Fold Belt”. 

Meanwhile, ReconAfrica’s pre-construction activities are continuing on schedule and the pre-drill evaluation is complete. 

ReconAfrica’s drilling schematic states that the company targets a drilling depth of 3 800 metres, with the potential to drill deeper, as it did for its Naingopo exploration well. 

“The thickness of the Otavi section is expected to be approximately 1 500 metres to 1 800 metres, depending on how deep we are able to drill. The learnings from the Naingopo exploration well have improved our understanding of the Damara Fold Belt with respect to our geologic model, including time and depth migration for the Mulden and Otavi sections. This is the same reservoir where we encountered over 50 metres of reservoir quality carbonates and encountered oil shows in the Naingopo well,” reads a ReconAfrica statement. 

ReconAfrica is engaged in the exploration of the Damara Fold Belt and Kavango Rift Basin in the Kalahari Desert of northeastern Namibia and northwestern Botswana.

This is where it holds petroleum licences comprising approximately 8 million contiguous acres.