TotalEnergies and BWEnergy to decide on Namibian projects by the end of next year, Minister says
Namibia's petroleum commissioner stated on Tuesday that the French oil giant TotalEnergies will make a final decision on investment (FID) for its Venus discovery within the African nation in the fourth quarter 2026.
Maggy Shino, at a conference held in Paris, said that she expected TotalEnergies' first oilfield development plan to be approved in June or July.
Shino said that Namibia expects to finalise a new field development plan in June with BWEnergy of Norway to develop the smaller Kudu field. A FID will also be issued in late 2026.
Shell wrote off its Namibian oil discoveries in January as uncommercial because of the high amounts of gas found on the fields. This dampened initial excitement that the southern African nation, which does not produce hydrocarbons, could become an important producer.
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said that the French oil giant can manage those geological problems, but a FID would depend on whether or not production costs could be kept below an internal requirement at $20 per barrel.
Pouyanne said on a call with investors last month, that the talks to convince the Namibian government of a greater burden were "premature," and that it takes "two to tango."
TotalEnergies holds a 45,25% stake in the offshore block 2913B that contains the Venus discovery. This is alongside QatarEnergy (35,25%), Africa Oil’s Impact Oil and Gas (9.5%) and Namibia’s state-owned NAMCOR.
BWEnergy owns 95% of the Kudu Prospect, while NAMCOR holds the remaining 5%.
(source: Reuters)
