Ann: Presentation to the General Meeting, page-62

Shell are "positive around what we're seeing", "drilling some of the lowest cost and fastest wells".

Shell chief Wael Sawan shares his latest thoughts on exploration hot-spot Namibia

"Shell’s chief executive Wael Sawan is “positive” about results so far from its high-profile exploration and appraisal drilling campaign offshore Namibia, but cautioned it is too early to unveil a timeline to first production.

To date, the supermajor has drilled four successful exploration wells with Graff-1, La Rona-1, Jonker-1 and Lesedi-1, and has also carried out a flow test on the original Graff probe in the prolific Orange basin.

Responding to an Upstream question about the status of Shell’s Namibian operations in a media briefing this morning, Sawan said: “(We’re) positive around what we’re seeing, but is too early to judge exactly how quickly we’re going to be able to develop this (resource).

There is quite a bit of work (to do) to truly understand the sub-surface to make sure we’re looking at the right amount of oil in place, the characteristics of that oil, how it flows, and how we can make it commercial.”

Sawan said: “Hopefully over the coming months as we get more clarity we can be in a position to be a bit clearer on the development trajectory for this resource base.”

And he stresssed that Shell has the semi-submersible rig DeepSea Bollsta — which is currently drilling the Cullinan-1 probe — under contract for the rest of the year and is assessing how best to deploy it.

“We’re looking at how we can best optimise that (rig’s use) over the coming months.”

At a strategic level, Sawan said Namibia sits within the supermajor's core Atlantic Margin play where he feels Shell has "an advantaged position," highlighting its holdings in Nigeria, the US Gulf of Mexico and Brazil. “We’re bringing that capacity and cap to bear in Namibia, drilling some of the lowest cost and fastest wells. We’re very proud of what the team is doing there,” he said.