Investment Q&A

AOI provided an exploration update. The absence of oil in Africa Oil's Nara-1 exploration well (5.9% stake) -- an anticipated westerly extension of the Venus discovery (6.2% stake) offshore Namibia -- was disappointing to investors and may raise concern about the project's commercial scale given the mixed success rate. Nonetheless, the Venus prospect remains one of the largest frontier discoveries globally, with Venus-1A appraisal expected in 4Q forming the key catalyst, while further prospect drilling paired with a 3D seismic study should help estimate the size of the reservoir. But there was also a positive test well at Impact Oil in Namibia. The stock is very cheap, and still up on the year, but investors' hopes were dashed a bit with the dry well.