New life injected into Kudu gas deposit
Government open to collaboration
New discoveries of oil resources in the Orange Basin may bring the Kudu Gas project back to life.
The recent oil discoveries in the Orange Basin by oil majors Shell, TotalEnergies and Galp Energia has breathed new life into the Kudu Gas project, which has failed to take off since its discovery in 1974 by Chevron. Speaking at the Namibia International Energy Conference, which is currently underway, petroleum commissioner Maggy Shino said the viability of the project was being supported by the possibility of oil production.
“We have Kudu with just new life being blown into it because of the discoveries and because of the resources we are seeing in other basins,” Shino said.
Gas from the the Kudu Gas project is envisaged to be developed onshore, in either Lüderitz or Elizabeth Bay, with a floating and production storage and offloading unit (FPS) being considered, she explained.
“The overview of the project still remains the same. We are planning to have an FPS so that we produce the gas and move it in a pipeline to Lüderitz, have a power plant that will be developed in two phases - 420 megawatt (MW) first and 40MW coming later - and a distribution line for us to distribute the molecules,” she said.
Government is open to having a conversation about various proposals to develop the project, Shino noted.
“We look at it as an integrated project. We are a pragmatic government. We are open to all conversations - including the bundling and unbundling of this project so that different players can plug in in order for Kudu to take off."
A financial investment decision is expected to be made in 2025. The Kudu Gas project is expected to produce its first power in 2027.
The Kudu Gas field is estimated to hold 1.3 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves. The National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) holds a 5% carried-free interest stake, while BW Energy holds the remainder in the deposit.