Offshore Oil Exploration Booms in Namibia with Key Decisions Looming
Namibia expects France's TotalEnergies and Norway's BW Energy to take final investment decisions on oil projects offshore the African country in late 2026, a senior Namibian official says.
TotalEnergies is expected to submit this summer a field development plan for the Venus project, while BW Energy and Namibia are finalizing a plan to develop a smaller discovery, Maggy Shino, Petroleum Commissioner at the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy, said on Tuesday.
Both TotalEnergies and BW Energy are set to make a final decision whether to proceed with the offshore field developments – which would be Namibia's first ever – in the fourth quarter of 2026, Reuters quoted Shino as telling a conference in Paris.
In recent years, international majors have scaled back investments in Africa's legacy producers such as Nigeria and Angola, and have instead opted for exploration offshore Namibia, hoping it would be the next Guyana and the next major oil producer and exporter.
TotalEnergies, Portugal-based energy firm Galp, and Shell have already made large discoveries offshore Namibia, kicking off the Namibian oil rush in 2022.
However, in a recent setback, Shell wrote down $400 million over an oil discovery offshore in offshore block PEL39 in Namibia that 'cannot currently be confirmed for commercial development.'
Despite the downgrade of the discovery, Namibia remains a frontier province which majors are considering exploring and developing.
Chevron, for example, plans to begin drilling an exploration well offshore Namibia in 2026 or 2027.
At TotalEnergies' Q1 earnings call, CEO Patrick Pouyanné said that the company's project in Namibia is feasible but faces challenges because of low permeability. TotalEnergies and Namibian authorities have started discussions about a possible development at Venus, Pouyanné said, adding that the supermajor could move with the project if it meets the rate of returns the company has set.
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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Hamilton Spectator
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What to know about inspections of Iran's nuclear program by the IAEA ahead of a key board vote
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Yahoo
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According to an analysis by A2MAC1, a Paris-based tear-down firm that benchmarks components, the mid-level God's Eye version most comparable to Tesla's FSD runs on an Nvidia computing chip with data collected through 12 cameras, five radars, 12 ultrasonic sensors, and one lidar sensor, at a cost of $2,105. That compares to $2,360 for Tesla's FSD, which uses cameras without sensors and two AI chips, the firm estimates. Cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors are 40% cheaper in China than comparable devices in Europe and the United States, A2MAC1 estimates. Lidar sensors cost about 20% less, the firm says. Sensor costs have fallen because China's EV boom created economies of scale, said A2MAC1 engineer Elena Zhelondz. The fierce competition also pushed carmakers and suppliers to accept lower profits on driver-assistance equipment, she said. 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In November, a BYD executive in charge of passenger-vehicle operations wrote to suppliers telling them that the automaker sold 4.2 million vehicles last year (more than double the number of Teslas sold) because of 'technical innovation, economies of scale, and a low-cost supply chain.' The executive noted the new year would likely bring more growth, but also fiercer competition. Without specifically mentioning God's Eye, he ended the letter by asking the suppliers for an across-the-board 10% price cut on all parts and systems starting on January 1, calling the new year a final 'knockout round.' Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Jennifer Chrisler named interim president of Hampshire College
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