The Data Room

This story was submitted to New Era newspaper in April 2022 but was never published. ReconAfrica spokesperson Ndapewoshali Shapwanale, the Canadian company’s spokesperson at the time, threatened the journalist’s livelihood for asking questions about whether the company had actually found oil. The journalist’s name has been removed as he fears further reprisals from the Canadian oil driller.

Here is the story that was sent to New Era:

April 15, 2021, ReconAfrica, A Canadian oil company exploring in the Kavango region, announced the preliminary analysis of the data from the 6-2 well, the first of a three well drilling program, and claimed that the results provide clear evidence of a ‘working petroleum system in the Kavango Basin, but independent geologists suggest that the company is misrepresenting the facts. The company claimed, based on only an aeromagnetic survey, they had discovered one of the ‘world’s deepest onshore basins’ containing 120 billion barrels of oil. The company first told investors that the 120 billion barrels were gas, but after the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy put out a press release that said ReconAfrica had no licence for fracking, the company did an abrupt about face and said they said the basin contained oil. The company had raised eyebrows with its unorthodox practice of drilling wells before doing a seismic survey. Normally, a seismic survey is done to determine where drilling should happen. ReconAfrica was accused of ‘drilling blind’ by research firm Viceroy in their June 2021 report titled ‘No Oil-Pump Stock’ I believe the company’s illogical process and minimal publicly released details about the findings of the survey and the test wells come across as very shady’ said Elisabeth Kosters. Kosters is a highly regarded petroleum geologist. During her 40 year career, Kosters taught petroleum geology in Canada, the U.S and the Netherlands before retiring as executive director of the Canadian Federation of Earth Science. The company said in a press statement released on October 21 that it had ‘clearly established the presence of a working petroleum system and conventional reservoirs’. Kosters says the information ReconAfrica has made available does not support this claim. According to her, having found a working petroleum system, simply means that all conditions are met, but it doesn’t tell you anything about the volume of recoverable oil that’s present. It just says, ‘There’s oil here.’ It could be a few buckets. In an August 5 article published by the Earth Science Society, Kosters examined 11 available scientific studies about the geology of the region where ReconAfrica is drilling. From that review, she says she doesn’t believe that the company has made a significant oil find. ‘I don’t see a massive basin’ Matt Totten, Jr., is a petroleum geologist who lives in Namibia and did oil and gas exploration in Texas and the Gulf of Mexico while working for BP.Totten has examined all the data released by the company, as well as the publicly available gravity, magnetic, seismic, and well data across north-central and northeastern Namibia. Which he says shows that there’s ‘limited to no source rock present, without which commercial quantities of oil and gas cannot exist’ said Totten, casting doubt on the idea that the company has found a working petroleum system at all. Research firm Viceroy released a report claiming that the company is deliberately misleading investors in order to increase the share price. ‘The trick is to persuade potential investors to promote the stock through paid ads and articles, get them to believe the narratives, and then sell your shares as top executives’ Namibian conservationist Reinhold Mangundu explained. Initial permits and approvals were given before any consultation with affected communities. A business deal behind closed doors. A Namibian environmental activist, Veruschka Dumeni, said that ReconAfrica has largely disregarded national and international standards and laws. ‘The entire consultation and EIA process of ReconAfrica was rushed and flawed, i.e., lack of translation, dismissal of questions, and sudden meeting cancellations,’ said Dumeni. A lawsuit filed in New York by investors against the company for making ‘false and misleading statements’ names spokesperson Ndapewoshali Shapwanale as a defendant. Questions were sent to ReconAfrica’s spokesperson Shapwanale however, no response was seen. A follow up with a phone call to ReconAfrica was made whereas Shapwanale said she would report the journalist for pressuring him. ReconAfrica’s Shapwanale went ahead and told the Journalist that she would report him to his superior at Confidente for pressuring her for her response.