By: Hee-Dee Walenga
TotalEnergies Namibia has committed to making use of local transport companies in the oil sector, while advising them to position themselves by ensuring compliance with various requirements.
TotalEnergies lead for contracts and procurement engineer and local content, Veronica Mungonena, stated that between 2022 and 2025 TotalEnergies has drilled 7 wells between their two rigs.
In that timeframe, they have moved from eight majority Namibian-owned suppliers (at least 51% Namibian-owned) to 62.
“We have spent over US$141 million. 10% of our total energy spend for the period has been through Namibian suppliers. We want to ensure that Namibians are coming along with us on this journey,” Mungonena revealed.
She also stated that the Final Investment Decision (FID) for PEL 56 (Venus Development) has a target for mid-2026.
PEL 83 (Mopane), a new block, is anticipated to have exploration and appraisal wells between Q3 and Q4 of 2026. Another new block, PEL 104, is anticipated to “have potential seismic acquisition,” Mungonena stated.
Mungonena outlined that participating local suppliers will be classed in tiers. Tier 1 suppliers will contract directly with TotalEnergies.
These will include suppliers involved with subsea equipment, aircraft, warehousing and stock management, waste management, offshore logistics, drilling, and Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO).
Tier 2 suppliers will be subcontractors that include catering, road transportation, facility management, maintenance, machinery, civil works, power generation, spare parts manufacturing, inspection and certification. Tier 2 suppliers are where tier 1 suppliers will get their materials from.
Tier 3 suppliers are one step further removed from a final product and typically work in raw materials.
REQUIREMENTS
“Being a local company does not mean that you will get a contract,” stressed Mungonena. “You need to meet the requirements,” she added.
The six criteria that local suppliers will have to meet are: Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE), anti-bribery, finance, social responsibility, technical, and administrative.
Prospective suppliers are encouraged to visit TotalEnergies.na and input their information to be added to the prospective data base.
Prospective suppliers will undergo rigorous examination to ensure that they are legit and meet all requirements.
TotalEnergies contracts and procurement engineer, Eugena Tjivera, emphasised the importance and seriousness of compliance within the sector.
“We need to apply rigorous principles and procedures to ensure that our contractors, equally our suppliers, fully adhere to our standards of integrity,” she remarked.
TotalEnergies adheres to the US Foreign Contract Act of 1977, the 2010 UK Bribery Act, as well as the SACAN 2016 anti-bribery provision that ensures that any company dealing in any country for TotalEnergies ensures there are mitigating measures in place to fight corruption.
The pillars of TotalEnergies’ code of conduct consist of an internal whistleblowing system, a risk assessment exercise, due diligence procedures, accounting control systems, training programs, disciplinary measures, and an internal system to control the implementation of the measures comprising the anti-corruption program.
“We are basically saying, to each company, any contractor, any supplier, any partner, that is thinking of becoming a contractor or supplier for TotalEnergies, you need to have a compliance program in place. We equally also say due diligence is mandatory,” Tjivera emphasised.
Yeganeh Larijani, Logistics Manager at TotalEnergies, underscored the need for compliance for all suppliers, particularly for road transport providers. A prerequisite for all road transport suppliers is a land transport management system.
Larijani outlined that light vehicles need to be less than 5 years old with less than 150,000km on the dashboard. Heavy vehicles, which includes road tractors, should be less than 10 years old. Trailers and semi-trailers, less than 15 years.
Inside, vehicles need to be equipped with an In-vehicle Monitoring System (IVMS), which detects speed. They also need to have a Delivery Management System (DMS) and Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS).
Prospective suppliers will have to meet requirements regarding system management, driver management, journey management, vehicle management, risk analysis, and emergency & security plans.
“Just because you have cars or trucks does not mean you can become a road transport provider,” Larijani emphasised.
Road transport companies will be divided into light vehicles and heavy vehicles. Light vehicles have a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) lower than 3.5 tons, whilst heavy vehicles exceed 3.5 tons.
