Namibian authorities have approved the sale of some percentage of HRT’s stakes in each of three offshore blocks, Petroleum Exploration Licences (PEL) to Galp Energia HRT is a Brazillian firm. Galp Energia is Portuguese. In the deal, first announced in November 2012, the two companies said that Galp had acquired a 14% stake in the three exploration blocks in return for covering a portion of drilling costs.
This assignment is related to PEL 23, located in the Walvis Basin, and PELs 24 and 28, both located in the Orange Basin. HRT will retain operatorship of these PELs. The deal helps clear the way for HRT to start drilling in what it considers “the highly prospective region” off Namibia’s coast, which geologists believe could hold an area similar to Brazil’s subsalt because the two areas were connected millions of years ago. Billions of barrels of crude oil were discovered under a thick layer of salt in the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil.
HRT holds operating stakes in 10 blocks and minority shares in two others in the Walvis, Orange and Namibe basins.
