By Adedapo Adesanya
Namibia has announced plans to become the fifth largest oil producer in Africa by 2035, with an average output of 500,000 barrels per day.
The move, if actualised, will see the Southern African country displace Egypt in the top five list on the continent.
On top of the list is Nigeria, followed by Angola, Algeria, and Libya, according to data from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Speaking on the goal, Mr Ebson Uanguta, interim managing director of the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia, said at an industry event that, “With four floating production storage and offloading units deployed by 2035, we could be producing more than half a million barrels per day of oil equivalent.”
Several significant oil and gas discoveries were made recently in Namibian waters, with supermajors tapping an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil in offshore resources, with the first production expected in 2030.
Shell and TotalEnergies are the leading investors in Namibia’s oil future, along with Qatar Energy and a UK-listed Australian driller by the name of Global Petroleum. Chevron, Portugal’s Galp, and Rhino Resources are also exploring for oil in the country’s Orange Basin.
Earlier reports pegged the country’s oil and gas production capacity at 700,000 barrels per day as of 2030—the year that commercial production should begin.
Two discoveries in particular could transform the country into not only a new oil producer but a major one, as they are estimated to contain billions of barrels of oil and gas. One of these is Shell’s Graff discovery, which could hold as much as 1.7 billion barrels of oil and gas across three wells, according to Barclays estimates.
The other major discovery is TotalEnergies’ Venus, which is even bigger than Graff, with reserves seen at up to 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Earlier this year, Galp struck hydrocarbons at the Mopane discovery, which the company said could contain 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent or more.
According to market analysts, if proven this would overshadow the Shell and TotalEnergies discoveries and make Namibia an even more attractive oil development destination.