Rhino Resources is advancing a robust portfolio of exploration and appraisal campaigns aimed at driving Namibia toward its goal of first oil production by 2030. In 2025, the company made multiple discoveries, including Sagittarius-1X and Capricornus-1X, confirming the Orange Basin’s potential as a global deepwater hotspot. In July, Rhino spudded the Volans-1X well on Block PEL 85 offshore Namibia, a campaign involving 1,200 meters of drilling and collaboration with Halliburton Namibia to strengthen local content development.
In April 2025, the company announced that light oil tests at Capricornus-1X on Block 2914 yielded flow rates exceeding 11,000 stock tank barrels per day, with additional results under evaluation to refine its exploration strategy. Earlier, in February 2025, Rhino completed drilling of Sagittarius-1X on the same block. To reinforce its Namibian operations, Rhino signed a farmout agreement with Azule Energy in December 2024, bringing additional capital, expertise and technical capacity to Block 2914.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, Rhino Resources is preparing a six-well drilling campaign in the Karoo Basin, slated for 2026. The program targets the country’s natural gas, helium and hydrogen potential, positioning South Africa as an emerging player in diversified energy resources. The campaign is expected to play a pivotal role in strengthening domestic energy security while opening new avenues for industrial growth and investment.
“Rhino Resources’ operations and success in Namibia’s Orange Basin highlight the vast potential of Africa’s deepwater plays to drive energy security and economic growth,” stated Tomás Gerbasio, VP of Commercial and Strategic Engagement, African Energy Chamber. “Additionally, the company’s planned investments in South Africa mark a significant step in unlocking the country’s untapped natural gas and helium resources, strengthening its role in Africa’s evolving energy landscape.”
Amid its growing footprint across Southern Africa, Rhino Resources will engage with African policymakers, potential partners, market stakeholders and global investors at AEW 2025: Invest in African Energies to advance its projects and forge new deals. The company’s participation will spotlight Namibia’s Orange Basin opportunities alongside South Africa’s upcoming gas developments, further positioning Africa as a global exploration frontier.
Africa Fact: The Nigerian city of Surame flourished in the sixteenth century. Even in ruin it was an impressive sight, built on a horizontal vertical grid. A modern scholar describes it thus: “The walls of Surame are about 10 miles in circumference and include many large bastions or walled suburbs running out at right angles to the main wall. The large compound at Kanta is still visible in the centre, with ruins of many buildings, one of which is said to have been two-storied. The striking feature of the walls and whole ruins is the extensive use of stone and tsokuwa (laterite gravel) or very hard red building mud, evidently brought from a distance. There is a big mound of this near the north gate about 8 feet in height. The walls show regular courses of masonry to a height of 20 feet and more in several places. The best preserved portion is that known as sirati (the bridge) a little north of the eastern gate . . . The main city walls here appear to have provided a very strongly guarded entrance about 30 feet wide.”
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