Two major international energy players are buying a stake in a gas and oil exploration bid off the west coast of South Africa.

According to Moneyweb, the two companies – France’s TotalEnergies and Qatar’s state-owned QatarEnergy – are already searching for oil and gas in the Orange basin, further north, off the coast of Namibia.

The French company is buying 33% of the licence to drill Block 3B/4B, while the Qatari company will hold 24%. Canada’s Africa Oil, Namibia’s Azinam and Cape Town-based Ricocure own the balance of the licence.

The block in question lies just south of sizeable recent discoveries in the basin off Namibia – by Galp Energia (January 2024) and Shell – and TotalEnergies’ own Venus discovery.

‘South Africa’s side of the Orange basin resembles that of Namibia’s, it is highly prospective with at least two prospects in the northern region of the basin potentially containing millions of barrels of oil and associated gas,’ says Jonathan Salomo, the lead geologist for the west coast at the Petroleum Agency of South Africa.

12 March 2024
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