Major oil companies like TotalEnergies, Shell, and Chevron are investing heavily in Namibia following promising discoveries in the Graff-1, Venus-1, and Jonker-1X projects.
There's potential for Namibia not only to produce but also refine and export oil and gas, positioning itself as a significant player in the regional energy market.Namibia could see an oil boom thanks to several major discoveries that suggest there could be more oil yet to come.
In June this year, ReconAfrica increased its natural gas forecast to 22.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in Namibia’s onshore PEL 73 license area in the Kavango Basin. The company decided to speed up the acquisition and processing of a further 1,100km2 in the Damara Fold Belt following successful initial exploration. Recent reports suggest that Shell and TotalEnergies have discovered at least and up to 8.7 trillion cubic feet of gas in Namibia’s Orange basin over the last year and a half.
Recently, Namibia’s energy minister, Tom Alweendo, addressed the country’s role in foreign oil operations. Alweendo “We are making a case that local ownership must start with the state, which holds ownership of our natural resources.” He explained, “The proposed state ownership should take the form where the state owns a minimum equity percentage in all mining companies and petroleum production, for which it does not have to pay.