Highlights:
• Option Agreement executed to take a 70% working interest in Block 2312
offshore Namibia – consideration payable only upon grant
• Offshore Namibia has emerged as a global oil exploration hotspot, with over 11
billion barrels discovered to date in recent high-profile discoveries1
• Global super-majors active in the region include Shell, Chevron, TotalEnergies,
and GALP — seven offshore wells scheduled for drilling in 20252
• Block 2312 is south of Chevron-operated PEL 82 (awarded Feb 2025) and spans
approx 16,800km² in water depths of 1,400m to 2,000m – well within the
capability of modern drill-ships
• The block includes 6,100km² of 3D seismic and 4,700 line km of 2D seismic
• The previous operator of Block 2312 reported a mean prospective resource of
1.1 billion barrels of oil#
• Havoc Services, led by oil and gas veteran Dr Alan Stein, engaged as technical
advisor — track record includes discovering over 2 billion barrels of oil
equivalent and more than US$1 billion in capital raised
• Havoc’s subsidiary, Harmattan Energy, previously operated Namibia's PEL 90,
which was sold to Chevron in 2022
Strategic Entry into Offshore Namibia
Grand Gulf Energy Limited (Grand Gulf or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered
into a binding Option Agreement (Agreement), providing Grand Gulf with an exclusive option to
acquire 100% of Wrangel Pty Ltd (Wrangel).
Wrangel is an applicant for a 70% working interest (WI) in a Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) over
Block 2312 in the Walvis Basin, offshore Namibia (Figure 1). The application is in partnership with
Namibian-based oil and gas company TSE Oil and Gas (Pty) Ltd (TSE) (20% WI) and the state-owned
National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) (10% WI).
Under the terms of the agreement, consideration is only payable upon the successful granting of the
PEL, offering Grand Gulf a low-cost entry into one of the world’s most prospective frontier basins.
Offshore Namibia has seen a series of recent significant oil discoveries resulting in over 11 billion
barrels of oil discovered to date with global oil and gas super-majors such as Shell, Chevron,
TotalEnergies and GALP all active in the area, with 7 wells scheduled to be drilled in calendar 2025.
The groundbreaking Graff-1 oil well drilled offshore Namibia by Shell in 2022 catapulted Namibia to
the forefront of global oil exploration.
Shortly after the Graff discovery, TotalEnergies reported an even larger multi-billion barrel discovery
with their Venus-1 well and GALP followed in 2023 with the Mopane-1X oil and condensate discovery.
All these discoveries have now been appraised and tested.
Description automatically generated
By early 2025, after drilling 17 exploration wells and 6 appraisal wells, the overall success rate in the
Orange Basin since 2022, is greater than 80%3
.
Grand Gulf’s entry into Block 2312 offers material exposure to this emerging petroleum province.
Block 2312 – Offshore Namibia
In 2016, previous operator AIM-listed Chariot Limited, completed a 3D seismic survey covering approx
2,600km², targeting leads identified from approximately 1,700km of 2D seismic data acquired in 2015.
This modern dataset was processed alongside 3,500km² of legacy 3D seismic data, using depth
migration and inversion techniques calibrated to the nearby Wingat-1 and Murombe-1 wells.
The integrated 6,100km² 3D seismic dataset enabled Chariot to map multiple dip-closed structural
prospects, targeting Upper Cretaceous deepwater turbidite reservoirs — the same high-quality
reservoir intervals encountered in the Murombe-1 well. These prospects are interpreted to have
received hydrocarbon charge from Aptian-aged marine source rocks, which have been confirmed as
excellent quality in both Wingat-1 and Murombe-1.
Wingat-1, drilled by HRT Participações em Petróleo S.A. in 2013, identified two well-developed source
rocks (rich in organic carbon within the oil-generating window) and several thin-bedded-sandy
reservoirs saturated with oil (see Figure 1). Oil samples indicated the presence of light oil (38 to 42
API), with minimal contamination. No water-bearing zones were identified in the drilled section.
An independent audit by Netherland Sewell and Associates Inc. (NSAI) — a globally recognised
authority in petroleum resource evaluation — estimated the gross mean prospective resources
associated with these prospects, as of 5 June 2017, for Chariot Limited4
.
Block 2312 covers an area of 16,800km2 in water depths ranging from 1,400m to 2,000m and lies to
the south of the Murombe-1 and Wingat-1 wells, which were instrumental in establishing the
prospectivity of offshore Namibia. There is a total of approximately 6,100 km2 of 3D seismic in the
north of the block and 4,700 line kilometres of 2D seismic with an average line spacing of 8-10km.
The only well drilled in Block 2312 tested Prospect S, encountering high-quality reservoirs with clear
seismic signatures (Figure 3). The well, drilled in 2018 at a cost of only US$16 million, is located on the
edge of an area of mature Aptian source rocks, however the dominant hydrocarbon migration
direction has been established as northeasterly (where maturity will likely improve) suggesting the
absence of a migration pathway from the source rock to the reservoir at Prospect S.
Data collected from the Prospect S well has significantly upgraded exploration targets to the
northeast, such as Prospect B, along with targets which have access to the outboard oil kitchen such
as Prospects W and V.
Grand Gulf has undertaken a comprehensive technical review of all available data which has confirmed
the prospectivity of Block 2312. Technical work going forward will include a focused re-evaluation of
the seismic characteristics of the Prospect S reservoir and nearby features, aimed at assessing the
ability of seismic attributes to reliably predict hydrocarbon presence across the block’s most
prospective targets.
Appointment of Havoc Services as Technical Advisors
Grand Gulf has appointed Havoc Services Pty Ltd (Havoc), a subsidiary of Havoc Partners LLP, as its
corporate and technical advisor to assist in the assessment of the Block 2312 opportunity. Havoc will
also support the Company in the identification and evaluation of additional frontier basin
opportunities globally.
Founded in 2014, Havoc is a natural resources investment group established by a team of highly
experienced geoscientists who have worked together for over two decades and bring a collective 100+
years of international upstream experience. The Havoc team has been instrumental in discovering
over 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and raising more than US$1 billion in investment capital
through leadership roles in ventures such as Fusion Oil & Gas plc, Ophir Energy plc, and Harmattan
Energy Limited.
Most recently, Havoc’s wholly owned subsidiary Harmattan Energy was the operator of PEL 90 in
Namibia’s Orange Basin, located adjacent to recent world-class discoveries by Shell and TotalEnergies.
Harmattan was successfully sold to Chevron in late 2022.
The Perth-based Havoc team assisting with the Block 2312 evaluation includes Dr Alan Stein, Dr
Richard Higgins, and Mr Mark Sofield. Dr Stein will lead the Havoc team and serve as Senior Advisor
to the Grand Gulf Board. With over 30 years of international oil and gas experience, Dr Stein brings
extensive technical and corporate expertise.
Dr Stein was a founding partner of the geoscience consultancy IKODA Limited and served as the
founding Managing Director of Fusion Oil & Gas plc and Ophir Energy plc. Fusion, listed on the AIM in
2000, made multiple discoveries offshore Mauritania before its sale in 2003. In 2004, Dr Stein cofounded Ophir Energy plc, which was later listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2011 with a
valuation exceeding £1 billion, marking the largest E&P IPO in LSE history at the time. Under Dr Stein’s
leadership, Ophir made significant offshore gas discoveries in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania,
totalling more than 18 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas.
Ophir’s exploration success was underpinned by the work of Mr Mark Sofield, Exploration Manager –
West Africa, and Dr Richard Higgins, Exploration Manager – East Africa.
As technical advisors, Havoc will coordinate and guide geoscientific activities, support the Company’s
internal technical team, provide input into proposed exploration work programs, and assist in
preparing marketing and investor materials to help advance the Company’s strategic growth and
funding initiatives.
Transaction Terms
Grand Gulf has entered into an Option Agreement to acquire 100% of Wrangel. Wrangel is an applicant
for a 70% working interest (WI) in a Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) over Block 2312 in the Walvis
Basin, offshore Namibia in partnership with Namibian-based oil and gas company TSE Oil and Gas (Pty)
Ltd (20% WI) (TSE) and the state-owned National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) (10%
WI).
Wrangel has executed a binding Term Sheet with TSE, which grants Wrangel a 70% interest in the PEL
— subject to the successful grant of the PEL — through the payment of agreed fees and
reimbursement of certain past costs (the Project Option).
The Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) has confirmed the receipt and registration of the
Wrangel PEL application. Grand Gulf notes that the Wrangel PEL application is yet to be evaluated and
there is no guarantee that the application will be successful.
Grand Gulf Option to Acquire Wrangel
The material terms of the Option Agreement are set out below:
• Option: GGE has an exclusive option to acquire 100% of Wrangel (Wrangel Option). Exercise
of the Wrangel Option is conditional on the successful award of a PEL on Block 2312 and will
expire on the earlier of:
o 30 days after the successful award of a PEL on Block 2312; and
o 11 April 2026.
• Wrangel Option Fee: The Company has agreed to pay the following by way of an option fee
for the grant of the Wrangel Option:
o reimbursement of an option fee of US$115,000 to TSE by Wrangel for the Project
Option (paid); and
o US$100,000 in cash or GGE shares (at GGE’s election) to TSE (or its nominee)*.
• On exercise of the Wrangel Option, the Company will own 100% of Wrangel and will be
required to fund the exercise of the Project Option, should GGE elect for Wrangel to exercise
the Project Option.
• Wrangel Exercise Price: On exercise of the Wrangel Option, the Company will pay the
following consideration to Wrangel shareholders:
o A$150,000 in cash; and
o 250,000,000 GGE shares**.
The Wrangel Option agreement otherwise contains terms and conditions which are considered
customary, including representations and warranties.
Upon exercise of the Project Option, approximately US$175,000 will be payable directly to Namibian
government agencies for Licence Fees (including the federal government’s Petroleum Training and
Education Fund (PETROFUND)).
Also, following exercise of the Project Option, subject to entry into a consulting agreement on terms
acceptable to the parties, TSE will be paid a monthly retainer of US$7,500 per month, with a further
day rate of US$1,000 per day for any work done above 5 days in any given month (with prior approval
from the Grand Gulf Board).
The initial term for the consultancy agreement will be 12 months, with an option to extend by mutual
consent thereafter. The agreement will contain usual termination rights for the non-defaulting party
in the event of a breach. After the initial 12 month term, either party will have the right to terminate
without cause on one months’ notice.
Capital Raising
Grand Gulf has received firm commitments to raise $700,000 through a placement of 350 million fully
paid ordinary shares in Grand Gulf (Placement Shares) to professional and sophisticated investors at
an issue price of $0.002 per Placement Share (Placement).
The Placement was well supported by a number of existing investors.
Funds raised from the Placement will be utilised primarily to fund further evaluation of Block 2312 as
well as the progression of the Company’s Red Helium Project, business development and general
working capital.
The issue of the Placement Shares will not be subject to shareholder approval and will be made
utilising the Company’s available placement capacity under ASX Listing Rule 7.1A (245,038,715
Placement Shares) and 7.1 (104,961,285 Placement Shares). The issue price of $0.002 is above the 15
day VWAP of $0.00186.
This ASX announcement has been authorised for release by the Board of Grand Gulf Energy Ltd.