Mines ministry maps road to first oil
Although Namibia expects first oil before the end of the decade, the country is already preparing the systems, infrastructure, and regulatory backbone needed to support a functioning petroleum industry over the next five years.
The Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy’s 2025/26–2029/30 strategic plan sets out a clear shift from exploration to readiness, with the government prioritising fuel integrity, logistics infrastructure, storage capacity, and geoscientific systems as the foundation for oil production.
Namibia’s push toward oil production follows a series of major offshore discoveries made since 2022 in the Orange Basin.
Discoveries made
TotalEnergies and its partners, including Impact Oil & Gas and NAMCOR, announced the Venus discovery in Block 2913B, which is widely regarded as the country’s most advanced development project.
Around the same time, Shell confirmed multiple discoveries in Petroleum Exploration Licence 39, including Graff, La Rona, and Jonker, establishing Namibia as one of the world’s most promising new oil frontiers.
Further momentum came from Galp Energia and its partners, which made the Mopane discovery in PEL 83, adding to the scale of resources being appraised offshore.
TotalEnergies and Galp Energia formalised a strategic partnership in Namibia in late 2025 that effectively links the country’s two biggest offshore discoveries — Venus in Block 2913B and Mopane in PEL 83 — under a coordinated development framework.
Under the agreement, TotalEnergies acquired a 40% stake in Mopane and operatorship from Galp.
In comparison, Galp retained a 40% interest and gained a 10% stake in the Venus development, along with an additional interest in PEL 91.
The deal also includes a carry arrangement in which TotalEnergies will fund a portion of Galp’s exploration, appraisal, and initial development costs at Mopane, recoverable from future production revenues.
Infrastructure plan
The transaction reshapes Namibia’s offshore oil landscape by aligning the two companies across both assets, enabling shared infrastructure planning, technical integration, and a faster path to development. TotalEnergies is now positioned as the lead operator across both projects, while Galp maintains significant exposure to the basin’s upside.
Both companies have indicated that appraisal and development work will proceed in parallel, with a final investment decision targeted for 2026, placing Namibia on track for first oil before the end of the decade.
These discoveries have triggered a wave of appraisal drilling, technical studies, and investment planning, positioning Namibia for its first production phase.
Industry timelines remain aligned around a key milestone, with final investment decisions expected from 2026.
TotalEnergies has indicated that a final investment decision on Venus is targeted for 2026, which would unlock full-field development, including subsea systems, floating production infrastructure, and export facilities. The scale of investment required for such deepwater projects is expected to run into billions of dollars, placing Namibia among the largest emerging offshore developments globally.
Five-year strategy
Against this backdrop, the government’s five-year strategy focuses on ensuring the country is ready onshore when offshore production begins. At the centre of this preparation is the establishment of a petrochemical testing laboratory to tighten control over fuel quality and quantity.
Namibia needs to ensure the integrity of all petroleum products through fuel quality and fuel quantity verification and testing, with authorities committed to introducing fuel integrity regulations and mandating the Namibian Standards Institution as the competent authority.
This is intended to prevent revenue losses from undeclared fuel volumes while strengthening health, safety, security, and environmental protection.
The strategy also acknowledges that Namibia faces limited infrastructure capacity and insufficient fuel storage, particularly as activity increases.
Plans are therefore in place to develop an onshore petroleum supply base that will serve as a logistics hub for offshore operations.
The government intends to facilitate the construction of core infrastructure, such as jetties and access roads, ensure the availability of land and utilities, and provide the necessary licences, permits, and regulatory frameworks to enable development.
The supply base is expected to reduce transportation time and costs, minimise operational expenses, support economies of scale, build local capacity, reduce dependency on foreign service providers, create employment, promote skills transfer, and enable local business participation in the petroleum value chain.
Fuel storage has emerged as another immediate concern. The plan highlights insufficient capacity nationwide, especially outside Walvis Bay, where congestion from fuel trucks is already damaging national roads.
Private sector involvement
The government has committed to allocating funds and supporting private sector initiatives to refurbish existing depots and construct new inland petroleum depots at strategic locations.
These facilities are expected to strengthen fuel supply security, ease congestion at Walvis Bay, and safeguard the national road network.
In parallel, Namibia is accelerating the construction and upgrading of geoscientific infrastructure. The country has accumulated significant volumes of geoscience data that require secure storage and management.
The ministry plans to mobilise resources to install new seismic stations and upgrade geoinformation systems, laboratories, and core storage facilities, improving data accessibility, strengthening investment competitiveness, and enabling nationwide monitoring of seismic activity.
The five-year strategy also links oil development to broader industrialisation goals. Through its manufacturing and value-addition pillar, the government aims to ensure that raw materials are processed locally into higher-value products, creating employment opportunities and supporting economic growth.
