Namibia is expecting a final investment decision (FID) by French energy supermajor TotalEnergies on its Venus discovery in the Orange Basin by late 2026, according to Maggy Shino, petroleum commissioner at Namibia's Ministry of Mines and Energy.

While Namibia has no current oil production, it hopes offshore developments by energy majors like TotalEnergies, Shell (UK) and Galp Energia (Portugal) will generate new revenue. However, Shell recently downgraded its oil discoveries offshore Namibia as uncommercial because of high gas content, dampening early optimism. But TotalEnergies remains confident and is seeking incentives to lower production costs.

According to Shino, TotalEnergies has confirmed that it can handle the challenging geology of the Venus discovery. She told the Invest in Africa Energy (IAE 2025) forum in Paris this week that the company was on track to reach the FID in the last quarter of next year, Reuters reported on April 14.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne earlier said that the company’s FID would depend on whether production costs could be kept under $20 per barrel. The French energy supermajor is currently in discussions with the Namibian government to take on a greater share of the project costs. However, reducing expenses to below $20 per barrel will be difficult, according to Mike Sangster, the company’s senior vice president for Africa.

Namibia is urging the international oil companies operating offshore to work together on a unified approach for capturing and commercialising the associated natural gas found in their oil fields. This would involve shared infrastructure to transport the gas to an onshore facility, where it could be processed and partly used for regional power generation.

“In the case of Namibia, the gas is very remote... under 3,000 metres of water, which is a world record, and 300 kilometres (186 miles) from the coastline... to monetise the gas is super complex,” Sangster told the IAE forum.

TotalEnergies plans to re-inject gas to enable oil production at the Venus field, rather than sell it, according to Sangster. He noted that the company had no plans to market gas from Venus, as it already exported liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Angola and Nigeria.

Shino said it was too early to comment on TotalEnergies’ stance regarding a shared gas development plan. “We still need to discuss all these details, and to see Total’s field development plan in June or July,” Shino told Reuters on the margins of the conference.

TotalEnergies holds a 45.25% stake in Block 2913B, which includes the Venus discovery, with partners QatarEnergy (35.25%), UK-based private explorer Impact Oil and Gas (9.5%), and Namibia’s national oil company NAMCOR (10%).

Meanwhile, Norway’s oil and gas producer and developer BW Energy intends to move forward with developing the smaller offshore Kudu gas field in the Orange Basin. According to Shino, final plans are expected by June, with an FID also targeted for late 2026. BW Energy owns 95% of the Kudu asset, while the remaining 5% is held by NAMCOR.