Namibia expects the first oil from major offshore finds by 2030 and is considering a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platform, an official has revealed.
Petroleum Commissioner Maggy Shino told an oil conference in Cape Town, South Africa, that two oil companies were conducting appraisal tests to determine if they contained commercial amounts of oil that could be developed.
“For the oil project, deep water we are thinking of having an FPSO and then exporting the crude to the market,” she said.
This comes as oil major Shell, which is conducting appraisal work on PEL-39 to determine the commercial viability of the hydrocarbon, also cautioned that the first oil from its discovery in Namibia is unlikely before 2030.
TotalEnergies last month announced positive results from its Venus-1A appraisal well, situated in Block 2913B, approximately 13 km north of the Venus-1X discovery well.
The French energy giant is presently conducting a multi-well appraisal and exploration drilling program in Namibia, utilising two rigs.
Namibia, which has yet to produce any oil and gas, has attracted strong interest from international energy companies after Shell and TotalEnergies made discoveries off the coast of the southern African country.
Namibia’s recent oil discoveries, according to government forecasts, have the potential to position the country among the top 15 oil-producing nations by 2035, with employment for 4,200 people expected to be created.
Research shows that Namibia could register a GDP of N$699 billion (U$37 billion) at peak production level from the country’s newly discovered oil reserves.
According to research conducted by Wood Mackenzie, direct value added could come to around N$567 billion (U$30 billion) by 2043.
