QatarEnergy’s CEO, who is also Qatar’s energy minister, stated on Monday that the company wants to accelerate the development of two oil wells discovered off the Namibian coast with joint venture partners earlier this year.
Saad al-Kaabi stated that drilling work will begin in 2023 to gain a better understanding of deliverability and capacity, but he did not specify when the two oil discoveries will be brought into production.
QatarEnergy has a 30% interest in the Venus X1, while the field’s operator TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) has 40%, Impact Oil and Gas owns 20% and Namibia’s state-owned NAMCOR has 10%.
In the Graff-1 well, Shell Plc (SHEL.L) and QatarEnergy each hold a 45% stake, while NAMCOR owns the remaining 10%.
The discoveries could make Namibia, the southern neighbour of OPEC member Angola, another oil producer along the African Atlantic coast.
The companies have not yet detailed the quantities found, but the discoveries are likely in billions of barrels, Namibia’s mines and energy minister said in September.
“We are trying to expedite that as fast as possible to ensure we can get the development finalized,” Al-Kaabi told reporters in Windhoek during a visit to the southern African nation.
“These developments always take years to develop. It’s not something that can be done very fast and this is deep offshore development, so it has its complications.”
Tom Alweendo, the minister of energy for Namibia, stated at an oil conference last month in Dakar that the joint venture partners could begin production in four years.
