bp set to enter three licenses offshore Namibia as operator

bp has agreed to farm in as operator to three exploration licenses in the Walvis basin offshore Namibia, subject to the government’s approval.

On completion of the deal with Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas, bp will assume a 60% operated position in Block 2012A in the PEL97 ("Cooper”) license; Blocks 2111B and 2211A PEL99 ("Guy”) license); and Blocks 2211B and 2311A PEL100 ("Tamar”) license.

Eco subsidiaries Eco Namibia and Eco Services will retain a 25% interest, state-owned NAMCOR 10%, and local partners 5%.

The proposed exploration program going forward (again pending government approval), includes completing seismic reprocessing on shallow-water PEL97, and a new 3D seismic survey over an area of at least 3,000 sq km on the other two, deepwater licenses.

bp and its partners can then decide whether to enter the Second Renewal Period of the license term in 2028, with a commitment to drill an exploration well.

Gordon Birrell, bp’s Executive Vice President—Production & Operations, said: “Namibia is a region attracting growing industry interest and has a number of exciting frontier basins. This agreement marks bp’s entry into the country as an operator, strengthens bp’s exploration portfolio and provides long-term growth potential.”

In fact, the company already has a presence offshore Namibia via its joint venture with Azule Energy, which has participated in successful discovery wells drilled by Rhino Resources in the Orange basin: Volans-1X and Capricornus-1X.

Namibia has become one of the hottest exploration frontiers in the world since the major light-oil discoveries in the Orange Basin (south of the country) starting in 2022, led by Shell (Graff), TotalEnergies (Venus), and others. These have proven multi-billion-barrel potential in a new Cretaceous play.

The Walvis Basin, where these three blocks are located (north-central offshore Namibia), is a separate, less-drilled basin compared to the Orange Basin. It is considered more frontier but shares similar geological elements from the opening of the South Atlantic. Previous wells have shown oil shows and encouraging leads, but no major commercial discovery yet.

This deal gives bp its first operated position in Namibia’s Walvis Basin, while it already has non-operated exposure in the hotter Orange Basin through its Azule Energy joint venture (with Eni), which participated in recent successful wells (Volans-1X and Capricornus-1X) drilled by Rhino Resources.

For Eco Atlantic, this is a strong validation — bringing in a supermajor as operator significantly de-risks the acreage and reduces their funding exposure while they retain a meaningful 25% stake.

The move reflects growing industry confidence in Namibia’s offshore potential, with majors accelerating activity ahead of expected first oil from the Orange Basin around 2029. bp’s entry as operator underscores the belief that the Walvis Basin could deliver similar success with modern seismic and drilling. The farm-in positions bp well for potential high-impact exploration in a region that is attracting significant international attention.