The Namibian mines and energy minister stated that TotalEnergies and Shell have likely discovered offshore oil and gas reserves in commercial quantities, possibly totaling billions of barrels.
Both companies announced earlier this year that they had made “significant” discoveries offshore Namibia and are currently making assessments.
The companies did not detail the quantities found, but a source told Reuters that Total’s discovery was more than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
The discoveries could make Namibia, the southern neighbour of OPEC member Angola, the latest oil producer along the African Atlantic coast.
“The companies are cautious, but have talked about commercial quantities in billions of barrels,” Namibia Mines and Energy Minister Tom Alweendo told Reuters on the sidelines of an oil conference in Dakar, Senegal.
“The commerciality is there. They basically want to make sure that before they commit to production investment, they know what exact quantities are there,” Alweendo said.
He added that the firms are in the process of drilling their second and third wells, and by the end of the year they would have done the appraisals and have estimated figures.
The minister told the conference on Thursday that the companies could start production in four years.
The minister noted that both companies are eager to expedite production and have indicated their intention to commence within four years. This timeline was agreed upon through mutual discussion rather than being imposed by the government.
