The Ministry of Industries, Mines, and Energy has stated that it was not informed by TotalEnergies and Petrobas regarding their equity acquisition in the exploration licence, PEL 104.
According to the Ministry, the law requires any moves within a petroleum licence, such as transfer, assignment, or acquisition of a participating interest to be communicated, which the two oil majors failed to do.
According to the Ministry’s update, said communication only reached the Ministry when the two corporations indicated they would be sharing a press release on the matter.
“We are very pleased to expand our portfolio and continue exploring the prolific resources of Namibia, in order to unlock further value that will benefit the country and all stakeholders,” said TotalEnergies president of exploration and production, Nicolas Terraz, in the statement.
The acquisition of the stakes in the PEL104 licence marks an expansion of TotalEnergies’ holdings in Namibia, where it hopes to be the first to produce oil by the end of the decade.
