The National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) has announced a third oil discovery in the Orange Basin off Namibia's southern coast.

The discovery in the Jonker-1X deep-water exploration well, located anout 270 kilometres off the coast of Namibia, was made by a joint venture of Shell, QatarEnergy and Namcor, the company announced on Monday.

Namcor managing director Immanuel Mulunga said: "We are delighted to announce this third oil discovery after the success of the Graff-1X and Venus-1X discoveries by Shell and TotalEnergies in 2022. This discovery has proven the exciting and world-class potential of the deep-water Orange Basin."

The drilling of the Jonker-1X exploration well started in December last year.

Namcor said the well was drilled to a total depth of 6 168 metres, in a water depth of 2 210 metres.

"The acquired data is currently being evaluated, and further appraisal drilling is planned to determine the size and recoverable resources potential of the discovery," the company stated.

Namcor has a stake of 10% in the joint venture, in which Shell and QatarEnergy each has a stake of 45%.