Oregen Energy Corp., a high potential energy story in the Namibia. This is a company who is walking in the footsteps of giants, but with a market cap that leaves far more upside on the table compared to the super majors in the region. They’ve assembled an experienced team with decades in oil and gas, including exploration pioneer Stuart Munro, and they’re operating in a basin that could potentially 2-3x Namibia’s GDP with a major discovery.
We were recently joined by Mason Granger, CEO and Director of Oregen Energy Corp. to talk further about their latest developments and what is next.
The following is a transcription of the above video, and The Market Online has edited it for clarity.
Lyndsay: Now off the top, Oregen Energy is stepping into the same playing field as some of the world’s biggest energy players. But with the leaner structure and higher upside. So the question here really is, how do you see the company carving out its own path in this space? And while walking in the footsteps of those giants?
Mason: Right. So we’re a very purpose built vehicle, to invest in Namibia’s Orange Basin. And if you’re unfamiliar with Namibia, this is the world’s hottest exploration frontier, right now. And the analogs to Guyana are plenty. So, we view Namibia as being where Guyana was ten years ago. And the size of the prize is absolutely enormous. Some of the biggest super majors in the world have found a combined 20 billion barrels and counting.
So what we’re looking to do is replicate the success that some of our team members have had decade ago with Cygnet Petroleum, by acquiring highly prospective blocks, by using the expertise of our team and elevating the geologic understanding of those blocks with a view to ultimately farming them out to the super majors and actually delivering sort of that next exploration success within the basin. And we think we have the right team in place to do that.
Lyndsay: Well, speaking of your team, it is stacked with some serious experience. And, you know, I’m going to call out Stuart Munro here. That’s 50 years in a game and a pioneer of the Orange Basin with that kind of pedigree, Mason. How does the technical expertise of your team accelerate Oregen’s ability to make progress faster than the average junior?
Mason: Right. And so, you’re pointing out that the participation of Stuart Munro, he’s a seasoned geologist. He’s got 50 years of experience in multiple basins around the world and tons of accolades under his belt. But I would view kind of the that the shining example, sort of his career was over a decade ago when the Orange Basin was under the radar of pretty much everybody.
And it was Stuart’s geological work up and geophysical sort of analysis of the play that ultimately culminated in the farm out to Shell. And that was Shell’s big first entrance into the basin. And it was that block that ultimately became the graph one discovery that kicked off all the enthusiasm in the basin. So, we’re looking to you to replicate that success through, our acquisition of a large interest in block 2712A, which for us is exciting because it’s on trend with these large discoveries like, Venus and Graph, etc., and it has a lot of the same geologic characteristics that made Stuart initially excited about his sort of foray into the basin.
Lyndsay: Now, let’s talk about Namibia itself here. The narrative is massive. If someone cracks a major discovery here, it could literally double or triple the country’s GDP. So how do you see Oregen’s role in potentially being one of the companies to help rewrite that economic future?
Mason: Right. And it brings to bear an important point about our company. As much as, Stuart’s, technological sort of technical savvy around the play types is important to us as well. We have team members that have a depth of relationships in the country and on block 2712A, our cornerstone asset, we are partners with a local oil company, Petrovena Energy, and also with the state oil company NAMCOR and strong relationships with the government itself and the ministry.
So it’s an important sort of partnership as we view it in country. And as you correctly point out, this has the potential to radically transform the living standards of all Namibians if done well. And we’re very excited to play a key role in defining the exploration success of the basin going forward.
Lyndsay: You know, you’re not just building a company, you’re building a community. Mason, let’s flip over to your deck for a second. Slide six of that latest deck really lays out some eye popping investment highlights, strong positioning, experience, leadership, and a clean capital structure. So what do you think investors should lock onto as the number one reason to take a hard look at Oregen right now?
Mason: Well, you know, quite aside from the fact that we’re executing a business plan of building a portfolio of exciting prospects all over the basin, it’s going to be a catalyst rich part of oil exploration for the super majors going forward. So we’re in the middle of a fairway that’s going to be incredibly, newsy for the balance of this year and into next year. You know, shell has is doubling down on their exploration program in the country. We’re waiting on, final investment decision from TotalEnergies on their Venus field. So there’s a lot of good news on the come and a lot of good news happening all around the small cap player like us that are sort of quietly working in the background to acquire additional interest and other highly prospective blocks. But we feel like we’ve got the right team in place for every step of the way to realize value for shareholders.
Lyndsay: Before I let you go, though, I do want to touch on West Oil now. Oregen has a 33.95% indirect working interest there, which is a significant piece of the pie. So how does that interest fit into your broader strategy and potential upside story for shareholders?
Mason: Right. So, we just completed the first tranche of an equity financing last week. And the use of the primary use of proceeds was to increase, our ownership of West Oil from, 12.5% to 48.5%. And so it’s a complex, somewhat complex ownership structure of the block, but effectively, it gives us an indirect interest of 33.95% in the block. Now, more importantly, in my view, is that being the largest shareholder of West Oil gives us a very influential seat at the table with determining sort of the ultimate destiny of the block. And it gives us a seat at the table with the negotiations in terms of commercial arrangements, the shooting of advanced 3D seismic.
But ultimately, if we’ve done our job well in our geologic interpretation is what we think it is and is augmented by advanced 3D seismic, the size of the prize could be quite large for us as we open a data room in the new year and try and seek a super major will ultimately come in, we’ll farm out to them and they’ll put risk capital, into the ground, so to speak, on the sea floor to drill these hundred plus million dollar wells. But if we’ve done our job well, there will be a large, cash payment on a farm out and a carried interest for us to continue to participate in the exploration success and ultimate development of the field.
Oregen Energy is trading on the CSE under the ticker C.ORNG and their full story is on their website at oregen.com
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