In a sign of the continued global appetite for new oil and gas projects, over a dozen major energy companies, including Exxon, Shell, and Brazil’s Petrobras, have expressed interest in acquiring a 40% stake in Galp Energia’s massive oil discovery offshore Namibia.
Galp’s Mopane field is estimated to hold at least 10 billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent, potentially valuing the asset at over $10 billion. In April, the Portuguese energy firm launched a sales process to divest half of its 80% stake in the Petroleum Exploration Licence 83 (PEL 83) area, as well as the rights to become the field’s operator.
According to sources close to the sale, companies like Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies, Petrobras, Woodside Energy, and Apache Energy have all signed agreements to access geological data for the field. Several of these firms have also submitted non-binding offers for the stake last month.
The identities of the bidders and the values of their offers remain unclear, but the potential buyers are expected to offer an upfront cash payment to Galp as well as cover the company’s share of the field’s development costs.
Namibia, which currently has no domestic oil and gas production, has seen a surge of interest from international energy majors in recent years following a string of significant discoveries by TotalEnergies, Shell, and Galp. However, no company has yet decided to proceed with full-scale field development, though TotalEnergies has said it expects to make a decision by the end of 2023.
The strong industry interest in Galp’s Mopane discovery highlights the sector’s ongoing confidence in the long-term outlook for oil and gas demand, even as the world seeks to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels in the transition to cleaner energy sources.