Namibia Surges Ahead as Africa's Next Oil Powerhouse

Namibia is rapidly emerging as Africa's next major oil producer while its neighbor, South Africa, lags behind. The Orange Basin, an offshore deepwater petroleum province spanning the Atlantic maritime border between the two countries, is estimated to contain more than 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

TotalEnergies' Venus Project in offshore Namibia now targets an initial production capacity of roughly 150,000 barrels of oil per day by 2030. The project's Venus-1X well is estimated to contain 1.5 billion barrels of light crude and 4.8 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Shell Plc and its JV partners reported a major oil discovery at the Merlin-1X exploration well within Petroleum Exploration Licence 39 (PEL 39). The resource has recoverable reserves estimated at 750 million barrels for Phase 1.