Corcel Chief Operating Officer Richard Lane said at Angola Oil & Gas 2026 that the company is evaluating a vertical well targeting structures identified through its subsurface work. Corcel has completed a 326-line-km 2D seismic campaign and is processing the data to refine potential drilling locations.

“KON-16 is an important block in the Kwanza Basin, but these methods could be used for other blocks,” Lane said.

The company is primarily targeting oil-bearing pre-salt structures beneath a salt layer that reaches 3,000 meters in places. Corcel has identified multiple pre- and post-salt leads, with the pre-salt reservoirs potentially offering larger volumes than the shallower targets.

The 1,000-square-kilometer block contains only one historical well, drilled in 1960, which encountered oil in the Tuenza formation. Corcel has combined data from the legacy well and its seismic campaign with reprocessed datasets and a full-tensor gravity survey to map additional prospects.

“The basin is similar to what we find in offshore Lower Congo,” Lane said, referring to the geological analogues Corcel is using to assess the Kwanza Basin’s pre-salt potential.

Corcel currently operates KON-16 with an 85% working interest and a 71.5% net interest following the restructuring announced on September 10. The company is continuing its farm-down process as it prepares for the 2027 drilling campaign.