Namibia has suspended recognition of French energy giant TotalEnergies’ acquisition of a stake in an offshore exploration license, citing the absence of a formal application and prior approval from the authorities, officials said Monday.
The transaction involves the offshore license PEL104, located in the Lüderitz Basin off Namibia’s southwest coast. TotalEnergies and Brazilian company Petrobras had announced in January that they each acquired a 42.5 percent stake in the license from Maravilla Oil and Gas and Eight Offshore Investments Holdings. TotalEnergies is expected to become the operator once the acquisition is finalized.
The proposed consortium would include TotalEnergies (42.5 percent), Petrobras (42.5 percent), the Namibian national oil company Namcor (10 percent), and Eight Offshore Investments Holdings (5 percent). The license covers an area of approximately 11,000 square kilometers.
Namibian authorities stressed that the transaction cannot be recognised until a formal application is submitted and reviewed according to statutory procedures. The Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy said it learned of the announcement only minutes before it was made public.
“The government reminds all parties that any transfer or acquisition of an interest in a petroleum license requires prior authorisation from the competent minister,” the presidency said in a statement.
The decision comes amid sweeping reforms in Namibia’s oil sector. Energy Minister Modestus Amutse has presented a bill to amend the country’s exploration and production legislation, including the creation of an upstream regulatory unit under the authority of the presidency. The reforms are intended to modernize the legal framework, strengthen fiscal transparency, and expand rules on conflicts of interest, while introducing new local content requirements.
Observers said the suspension of the PEL104 acquisition underscores Namibia’s determination to strictly enforce the law and could serve as a test case for the application of the country’s new regulatory framework for oil exploration.
TotalEnergies’ interest in Namibia forms part of a broader strategy in the country. In December 2025, the company became operator of the PEL83 license in the Orange Basin following an agreement with Portuguese energy firm Galp. That deal included a rebalancing of stakes across several offshore licenses.
Executives from TotalEnergies and Galp met with President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah in late January to present progress on their projects, without announcing new investment decisions.
Namibia is seeking to achieve its first commercial oil production while attracting foreign investment. According to consultancy Wood Mackenzie, oil production in the country could exceed 500,000 barrels per day within the next decade, driven by discoveries in the Orange Basin. Achieving this would require annual investments of around US$4 billion at the start of the next decade.
Industry analysts note that the country’s energy reforms, combined with a rigorous licensing approval process, are designed to ensure transparency, protect state interests, and encourage sustainable development of Namibia’s offshore resources.
For TotalEnergies, compliance with the regulatory process will be critical to maintaining momentum in one of southern Africa’s most promising oil provinces, where the government is increasingly assertive in enforcing sector rules.
