Recent discoveries along Namibia’s coast have transformed the country into a major hotspot for oil exploration.
While Namibia has not yet produced any oil or gas, significant finds by major oil companies like TotalEnergies and Shell, estimated at 2.6 billion barrels, set the stage for production to begin around 2030.
The Orange Basin has been a focal point of these discoveries, with other promising areas including the Luderitz, Kavango, and Walvis basins.
Chevron, the U.S. oil major, is expected to begin exploration later this year. In April, Chevron signed a development deal, securing an 80% operating working interest in an offshore block in the Walvis Basin.
Additionally, Chevron Namibia Exploration Ltd. is operating PEL 90, an offshore deepwater block in the Orange Basin.
In May, Azule Energy, a joint venture between Italy’s Eni and BP, and exploration firm Rhino Resources Namibia agreed to a farm-in agreement for a 42.5% interest in an offshore Orange Basin license.
In early 2024, the Portuguese energy group Galp carried out tests at its Mopane-1X and Mopane-2X wells. In April, Galp estimated that the Mopane field could hold at least 10 billion barrels of oil, making it one of the largest finds in the Orange Basin following successful exploration campaigns by TotalEnergies and Shell.
Galp has launched the sale of half of its 80% stake in the PEL 83 block, with Namibian state firm Namcor and Sintana Energy’s Namibian unit Custos Energy holding the remaining 20%.
Shell and its partners made an “encouraging” discovery in an exploration well off the coast of Namibia in February 2022.
Shell is exploring offshore oil and gas in PEL 39, an area covering 12,000 square kilometers with seven wells. The Graff well could hold 2.38 billion barrels of oil, and the Jonker-1X well another 2.5 billion barrels.
In January, TotalEnergies agreed to acquire an additional 10.5% interest in Block 2913B and a 9.39% interest in Block 2912.
The company plans to allocate about 30% of its $1 billion exploration and appraisal budget to Namibia in 2024.
TotalEnergies, which began its operations in Namibia in 1964, currently holds a 40% working interest in two deep offshore exploration blocks, with QatarEnergy, Impact Oil and Gas, and Namcor holding stakes of 30%, 20%, and 10%, respectively.
TotalEnergies aims to approve its first oil development in Namibia by the end of 2025, focusing on the Venus 1-X well in Block 2913B within the Orange Basin.
Namibia plans to commence oil production from Venus, which is estimated to hold around 5.1 billion barrels of oil, between 2029 and 2030.
