For most of the last fifty years, the waters off Namibia were a place oil companies studied and then left alone. Drilling began in 1974, yet fewer than 20 offshore wells had been drilled across the country’s four main basins before the recent run of success. That thin record kept the region on the fringe of the global industry for decades.
The picture changed in 2022, when TotalEnergies SE (NYSE: TTE) and another European major each announced light oil discoveries in the Orange Basin, a deepwater area in Namibia’s far south. TotalEnergies’ find, called Venus, lies in about 3,000 meters of water roughly 290 kilometers from shore. More discoveries followed, including the Mopane field in 2024, which many in the industry believe could be even larger.
Money has poured in since. Large oil companies have crowded into Namibian acreage, and the deals keep coming. TotalEnergies closed a swap that made it the operator of Mopane as well as Venus, and another European producer agreed to buy a 17.4% stake in a second Orange Basin block.
Finding oil is only the first step, though. No Namibian offshore field has yet received a final investment decision, which is the formal commitment to spend billions on production equipment. TotalEnergies and the government still had not agreed on terms for Venus as of today, even though the company had aimed to approve it this year. A Mopane decision is targeted for 2028. Results have also been uneven, with one major writing down $400 million after concluding some finds held too much gas to be profitable.
As the Orange Basin fills up, attention is moving north to the Walvis Basin, a large and far less tested area off the central coast, based on deal activity. The Walvis Basin has yet to deliver a find comparable to Venus or Mopane, so companies there are betting on geology rather than proven results.
That shift is where today’s news fits. Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd. (TSXV: EOG, AIM: ECO), an explorer with offshore interests in Namibia, Guyana, South Africa and the Falkland Islands, has completed the sale of a 60% stake in its three Namibian licenses to BP p.l.c. (NYSE: BP). The final step came yesterday when Namibia’s minister of mines and energy signed the transfer deeds and moved the licenses into their next exploration period.
The licenses, PEL 97, PEL 99 and PEL 100, cover 22,893 square kilometers of the Walvis Basin. BP now operates all three with 60%. Eco keeps 25%, the state oil company NAMCOR holds 10%, and a local partner holds 5%, which on PEL 97 is Tangi Trading Enterprise.
Eco will receive a one-time payment of $2.7 million on November 16th. More important, BP will pay Eco’s full share of costs during the current exploration phase, including new 3D seismic surveys over at least 3,000 square kilometers.
If the partners commit to drilling in 2028, Eco can hand BP another 10% of each license. In return, BP would cover Eco’s remaining share of a well, capped at $21 million per well on each license. Across all three, that could reach $63 million.
For a company with no oil revenue, this solves a basic problem. Small explorers often fund costly offshore work by issuing new shares, which shrinks existing owners’ slices. A major paying the bill removes that pressure for now. Chief executive Gil Holzman said Eco is also pursuing further farm-outs and acquisitions in Guyana and the Falkland Islands, which could become the next events to watch.
The risk has not gone away. These blocks sit in a basin without a proven commercial discovery, and the deal still needs final acceptance from the TSX Venture Exchange. What has changed is who pays to find out. Eco now holds a meaningful stake in one of the world’s most closely watched offshore frontiers, with BP funding the next round of work.
