Namibia’s upstream oil and gas sector has garnered significant interest recently, particularly in the Orange Basin off the west coast.
The energy industry’s attention was piqued in 2022 when Shell and TotalEnergies announced major light oil and natural gas discoveries in the Graff and Jonker fields.
This excitement intensified in 2023 with Galp’s Mopane discovery, positioning Namibia as an emerging hotspot for exploration.
Until now, Namibia’s upstream activities have focused solely on exploration, with no commercial production to date.
However, the substantial discoveries since 2022 have transformed the landscape, making Namibia a focal point for global exploration.
Among these discoveries, TotalEnergies’ Venus find is potentially the largest, with at least 1 billion barrels of recoverable oil resources identified.
Yet, these finds require further appraisal to confirm their commercial viability, as factors such as permeability, gas/oil ratios, and reservoir quality must be assessed. If developed, Venus could also mark the deepest offshore development ever undertaken.
A recent report by AOW indicated that TotalEnergies might commence production around 2028, with all three major projects potentially operational by early 2030, bringing Namibia’s oil output close to 1 million barrels per day.
Notably, TotalEnergies has opted to exit its discoveries offshore South Africa to concentrate on its assets in Namibia.
Prior to the success in the Orange Basin, fewer than 20 offshore wells had been drilled in Namibia’s various basins since exploration began in 1974.
However, in the last two years, TotalEnergies, Shell, and Galp have made eight discoveries across three blocks in the Orange Basin, estimated to hold around 3.5 billion barrels of potentially recoverable oil.
The deep waters of the Orange Basin have seen a surge in interest. Galp’s success indicates that the prospectivity extends north from the areas held by Shell and TotalEnergies, attracting other operators like Chevron, Woodside, and Rhino Resources, all of which have adjacent acreage and plan exploration and appraisal campaigns in 2024/25.
In addition to further appraisals, TotalEnergies plans to drill at least one more exploration well in its PEL 56 license area, with potential competitive bidding for Galp’s Mopane field.
ExxonMobil has holdings in the northern Namibe Basin, though this is a separate play that will first be tested on the Angolan side of the Namibe basin.
While offshore developments dominate headlines, significant advancements are also occurring in onshore frontier basins.
In July, Reconnaissance Energy spudded the Naingopo exploration well, marking the first exploration of a previously untapped basin, which will be closely monitored by the industry.
The Kudu gas field, discovered about 130 km off Swakopmund in 1974, remains undeveloped despite several attempts by operators to make it viable.
BW Energy entered the Kudu project in 2017 and has made progress, with CEO Carl Arnet indicating that drilling could commence as early as next year.
However, there are unresolved issues, including the use of gas from deepwater discoveries and a dispute over access to diamond-rich land around Lüderitz.
NAMCOR, Namibia’s national oil company, manages several offshore exploration blocks and boasts an impressive 230,000 square kilometers of licensed acreage—far exceeding Norway’s less than 100,000.
Despite this extensive territory, Namibia’s potential remains largely untapped, with only 20 deepwater wells drilled, compared to the thousands in established regions like the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
To address this gap, NAMCOR aims to evolve into a full-scale operator by expanding into downstream operations and sustainable sectors, such as hydrogen and synthetic fuels.
By adopting an investor-friendly approach and offering competitive fiscal terms, NAMCOR continues to attract investment while shifting its focus from exploration to production.
