French energy company TotalEnergies has become the operator of Namibia’s two largest oil discoveries, Venus and Mopane, after completing a strategic asset-swap agreement with Portuguese energy company Galp.🛢️ Under the deal, TotalEnergies acquired a 40% stake in Petroleum Exploration Licence 83 (PEL 83), which is the offshore area containing the Mopane oil discovery, and took over as the company leading its development. Galp retained 40%, while NAMCOR and Custos each hold 10%. No cash purchase price was disclosed, but TotalEnergies agreed to cover 50% of Galp’s share of the costs to further assess and initially develop Mopane, which will be repaid from Galp’s future earnings once production begins. TotalEnergies already leads the Venus oil project under PEL 56, where it holds a 35.25% stake, meaning it now leads the development of both discoveries. TotalEnergies plans to develop Venus first, followed by Mopane, potentially creating a major offshore production hub in one of Namibia’s offshore oil exploration area, the Orange Basin. Venus is estimated to contain around 750 million barrels of oil equivalent and could produce about 150,000 barrels per day from around 2030, while Mopane is estimated to contain around 800 million to 1.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent and could produce more than 200,000 barrels per day from around 2032-2033. If both projects proceed as planned, their combined production could eventually reach roughly 350,000 barrels per day, although neither is currently producing oil and both still require further investment and development.   submitted by   /u/namibpulse [link]   [comments]