Fossil Energy – Exploration
French oil major, TotalEnergies, has disclosed plans to begin oil exploration drills in the Orange Basin off the coast of South Africa.
Speaking to reporters during the oil major’s Q2 earnings call, TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanné said the firm is proposing to drill up to 7 exploration wells offshore South Africa in the Orange Basin straddling South African and Namibian waters in southwest Africa.
With the planned campaign offshore South Africa, the French oil major needs environmental authorization and intends to tap potentially more resources in the Orange Basin, after making a substantial discovery, Venus, in the same basin offshore Namibia.
“We have some attractive licenses just across the border and we have actually two or three prospects, and we are working in South Africa,” Patrick Pouyanné said.
The supermajor is in talks with the Namibian public for terms to develop the Venus prospect, the executive said.
The negotiations take time due to Namibia being new to the oil industry and TotalEnergies being the first firm out of the gate to have plans for a project developed in the country, Pouyanné added.
