French Energy Giant Says Its Namibia Oil Discovery ‘Seems to Be Giant’

In mid-August, the consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd. estimated that Namibia discoveries could contain about 6.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent of recoverable reserves.

Patrick Pouyanne, the chief executive of the French energy giant TotalEnergies SE, has stated that an oil field that the company previously discovered off Namibia “seems to be a very large” or even “giant” one.

Speaking at a presentation to investors in New York on Wednesday, the TotalEnergies CEO added that the conclusions had been based on the results obtained from a single well.

TotalEnergies, the world’s fourth-largest oil and gas company, announced an initial discovery in Namibia in February, a few weeks after Royal Dutch Shell Plc drilled a successful offshore well in the area.

“This discovery offshore Namibia and the very promising initial results prove the potential of this play in the Orange Basin, on which TotalEnergies owns an important position both in Namibia and South Africa,” Kevin McLachlan, TotalEnergies' senior vice president for exploration, said in a statement at the time.

The French company’s Wednesday remarks came as Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L announced that it would purchase African solar provider Daystar Power in a bid to expand its global renewables portfolio.

Shell made it clear that the Daystar purchase, which is the oil giant’s first power acquisition in Africa, reflects the company’s goal to slash its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.

The developments unfold against the backdrop of efforts by Western-backed environmentalist groups, the EU and US President Joe Biden's climate czar John Kerry to prevent African nations from developing their lucrative oil and gas projects by themselves.

Brussels previously warned EU members not to assist in the implementation of Uganda's energy projects either diplomatically or financially, while Kerry cautioned against investing in long-term gas projects in a number of African countries.