By Enyichukwu Enemanna
TotalEnergies’ Venus-1X has discovered at least 11 billion barrels of oil in Namibia’s offshore fields, the country’s state-owned oil firm, NAMCOR announced in a presentation of preliminary data.
This making up nearly half of the total oil discovering in the country that has not produced any oil or gas yet.
The southern African country has become a global exploration hotspot after deep water discoveries by Shell and TotalEnergies over the last two years.
Oil companies including Chevron, ExxonMobil and Galp Energia are also conducting exploration and appraisal activities.
The large discovery could make Namibia a top 15 oil producer by 2035, said NAMCOR, with an opportunity to double the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in less than a decade.
Quoting NAMCOR’s presentation on Wednesday, Reuters in a report said the Venus well holds around 5.1 billion barrels of oil, while Shell’s Graff-1X held 2.38 billion and its Jonker-1X another 2.5 billion.
These wells are still being appraised with a final reserve estimate expected to be released later this year in possible readiness for commencement of production, Namibian oil officials said.
The development of Venus and Jonker were being fast-tracked along a “multi-phased incremental” approach, said NAMCOR, which held a 10% interest in the discoveries.
It added that there was no development concept for Shell’s Graff and Le Rona wells yet.
