Kudu gains environmental clearance

SLR Environmental Consulting has confirmed on behalf of their client, BW Kudu, that the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism issued an environmental clearance certificate on 25 July to allow appraisal drilling on the Kudu gas fields off the southern coast of Namibia. Chevron initially discovered the field in 1974, and between 1987 and 1988, SWAKOR carried out further exploration, drilling Kudu 9A-2 and Kudu 9A-3, with the latter confirming a gas discovery. In the early 2000s, Shell withdrew from the project after four further wells had been drilled. Namibia has been hoping for years to exploit this gas resource, which may contain estimated reserves of 1.3 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas. BW Kudu is a subsidiary of the giant oil and gas developer BW Energy from Norway, and owns 95% of the Kudu project, with NAMCOR owning the remaining 5%. BW Kudu recently announced that the Deepsea Mira semi-submersible oil rig will carry out the job.