Shell to Drill Offshore Namibia, Partners Confirm Deepsea Mira Contract

Shell said it will launch a fresh exploration campaign in PEL 39 in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia, beginning mobilization for drilling from April 2026 and using the drillship Deepsea Mira. Company materials and reporting by Reuters and industry monitors confirmed that Shell will operate the licence alongside joint venture partners QatarEnergy and Namcor, with QatarEnergy listed as holding a 45 percent participating interest and Namcor holding 10 percent.

The Deepsea Mira, operated by Odfjell Drilling and owned by Northern Ocean, has been contracted for the program, Shell’s Namibia country chair Eduardo Rodriguez said in a social media post that Reuters cited. A Shell spokesperson told S&P Global that Shell and its partners “are progressing plans to conduct further exploration drilling activity in PEL 039 during 2026 to continue its evaluation of the prospectivity,” and described the activity as reflecting “Shell’s continued commitment to responsibly explore Namibia's offshore potential in close partnership with QatarEnergy and Namcor.”

The announcement comes in the wake of a significant accounting move earlier this year. In January Shell recorded about a $400 million write down tied to an Orange Basin discovery it judged commercially unviable, underscoring the uneven economics of frontier deep water exploration. Despite that setback, the company persisted in planning follow up activity in PEL 39, reflecting a broader industry view that the Orange Basin remains prospect rich following major 2022 finds such as Graff and Venus that transformed investor interest in the region.

For Namibia, which has not yet produced oil and targets first oil by 2030, continued activity by large international companies reinforces hopes of a nascent offshore industry. The state oil company’s 10 percent interest ensures direct participation in any discovery economics, while the entry and continued commitment of major partners will shape government revenue projections, local content plans and environmental review requirements over the next five years.

Market and policy implications are twofold. For Shell, the campaign represents a measured allocation of exploration capital in a period when oil majors face pressure to balance returns with lower carbon transition commitments. The firm’s decision to proceed signals confidence in the geological upside of the Orange Basin even after the earlier write down. For Namibia, additional wells will be decisive for production timelines and for the design of fiscal terms that policymakers must finalize to capture value while managing social and environmental risks.

Investors and host country regulators will watch mobilization of the Deepsea Mira, the location and objectives of planned wells, and any technical or environmental assessments lodged with Namibian authorities. The campaign’s outcomes will influence not just Shell’s appraisal of PEL 39, but the wider timetable for commercial development across the Orange Basin as firms weigh the basin’s promise against the economics of deep water projects and global energy transition pressures.