Two Namibian prospects on TotalEnergies’ drilling agenda in 2025 as it puts off FID for oil discovery

France’s energy giant TotalEnergies has decided to bump a final investment decision (FID) to next year for its giant oil discovery in the Orange Basin off the coast of Namibia. However, the firm has lined up drilling activities at two prospects in the African country for 2025.

Following TotalEnergies’ Venus-1 and Shell’s Graff-1, La Rona-1, and Jonker-1 discoveries, which were interpreted to prove a working light oil system offshore Namibia, the African country started turning into an exploration hotspot. As a result, many oil and gas players began engaging in more drilling activities.

The French player’s ultra-deepwater Venus-1X exploration well was drilled at the beginning of December 2021, using the Maersk Voyager drillship. As a result, a light oil and associated gas field was discovered approximately 290 kilometers off the coast of southern Namibia in a water depth of around 3,000 meters.

The firm planned to embark on a multi-well drilling program offshore Namibia before the end of February 2023, targeting up to four wells, including the re-entry of the Venus-1X well to appraise the Venus discovery and to investigate a potential westerly extension of Venus, the Nara prospect, previously known as West Venus, on Block 2912.

After the appraisal of the giant Venus light oil accumulation via the drilling and testing of the Venus-1X ST, Venus-1A, Venus-2A, and Mangetti-1X appraisal wells was completed, activities began to progress the first development area, with a Phase 1 development scheme expected to be finalized by the end of 2025.

TotalEnergies is the operator of Block 2913B in PEL 56, which covers approximately 8,215 square kilometers offshore Namibia with a 50.5% working interest, alongside QatarEnergy (30%), Africa Oil’s Impact Oil and Gas (9.5%), and Namibia’s NAMCOR (10%) as its joint venture partners.

According to NAMCOR, the operator is currently progressing with extensive post-well studies of the cores, logging data, and fluid samples acquired from the Venus wells and will continue doing so throughout 2025.

The firm started drilling the Tamboti-1X exploration well in October 2024 with the Odfjell Drilling-managed Deepsea Mira rig, while technical evaluation on the block maturation and prospectivity continues for further exploration and appraisal activities.

While the JV partners are progressing with fast-tracking the development studies of a potential Venus development, TotalEnergies has decided to postpone the FID for the project, pushing it from 2025 to 2026, as disclosed by Patrick Pouyanné, the French player’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

TotalEnergies downgraded the Venus field’s expected production capacity from 160,000 to 150,000 barrels per day last year. The company has also confirmed plans to drill the Marula prospect in the first quarter of 2025 and the Olympe prospect by year-end.

Namibia’s offshore arena continues to attract attention, offering the promise of more hydrocarbons, but all exploration activities do not always yield the anticipated result, as some end up being a miss while another drilling gig turns out to be a hit, which is common in the offshore drilling game.

This was confirmed recently by two oil majors, Shell and Chevron, respectively. TotalEnergies’ FID delay comes on the heels of drilling activities undertaken by Harmattan Energy, an indirect subsidiary of Chevron, which drilled an exploration well in Namibia’s Orange Basin that did not lead to commercial hydrocarbon quantities but is said to have provided valuable information on important aspects of the basin.

The Venus FID rescheduling also follows closely behind Shell’s decision to write down $400 million, citing technical and geological difficulties encountered at PEL 39, as the European energy giant could not confirm its oil discovery in the Orange Basin for commercial development at that stage.

Shell (45%, operator), QatarEnergy (45%), and NAMCOR (10%) as joint venture partners are currently progressing with extensive post-well studies of the cores and fluid samples acquired from the Jonker, Enigma, and Graff wells to improve the understanding of the reservoirs and expand that knowledge to other potential opportunities on the block. These studies are expected to continue through 2025.

NAMCOR emphasized: “Namibia’s oil and gas sector is advancing significantly, with multiple high-impact wells, appraisal studies, and seismic campaigns in the prolific Orange Basin which stands out as a hotspot of global attention, reflecting its tremendous hydrocarbon potential.

“Notable progress includes the appraisal of prolific fields like Venus (PEL 56) and Mopane (PEL 83) and new exploration initiatives such as ongoing drilling in PELs 56, 83, 85, and 90 and the currently ongoing development studies.”