Oil deals keep flowing

Namibia’s upstream oil exploration sector remains active, with Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas announcing on Monday that the government has approved the farm-out transaction of its 85% participating interest in Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) 98 to Lamda Energy, a wholly Namibian-owned company.

In an official statement, Eco Atlantic said it was “pleased to announce that it has received formal ministerial approval from the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy of Namibia for the Section 11 assignment”.

The company added that the approval represented “the final governmental consent required under Section 11 of the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act” for the transfer of its interest in PEL 98. It said the parties were now completing remaining transaction documentation, with completion of the farm-out expected shortly.

Eco Atlantic said the approval “demonstrates continued regulatory progress within the highly prospective offshore sector” and reflects the ministry’s commitment to advancing commercial transactions and exploration activity.

New appointment

The approval follows a ministerial announcement on 17 June 2026 by the Minister of Industries, Mines and Energy, Modestus Amutse, confirming the appointment of Aune Amutenya as acting petroleum commissioner, effective 2 June 2026. Amutenya, previously deputy director of petroleum exploration and production, replaces Maggy Shino, who has been relieved of her duties as petroleum commissioner. Shino remains a director in the Department of Upstream Petroleum Affairs.

No official reason has been given for the change.

Eco Atlantic chief executive Gil Holzman said ministerial approval for the PEL 98 transaction marked “a significant milestone” for the company and its partners as the farm-out moves towards completion. He also thanked the ministry, the Upstream Petroleum Unit and other stakeholders for facilitating the process. He added that broader momentum in the upstream sector was “encouraging”, with approvals progressing and increasing confidence among companies operating in Namibia.

Eco Atlantic also confirmed that a Section 11 application relating to its farm-out agreement with BP Namibia Energy Limited has been submitted to the ministry. The transaction covers Petroleum Exploration Licences 97, 99 and 100, with Eco retaining a 25% interest while securing carried funding for exploration activities.

Retained interest

According to The Extractor Magazine (theextractormagazine.com), BP will carry Eco Atlantic’s retained interest as well as the proportional interests of Namcor and other local partners during the exploration phase, in a programme potentially worth up to US$63m.

The developments come ahead of increased survey activity planned for the Walvis Basin, as Namibia seeks to replicate exploration successes in the Orange Basin, where recent discoveries have reshaped expectations for future production.

Eco Atlantic said earlier in June that preparations were under way for a work programme including seismic reprocessing on PEL 97 and a new 3D seismic survey covering more than 3,000 square kilometres across PEL 99 and PEL 100, according to The Extractor.

Recent activity in the sector also includes government approval of Tower Resources’ farm-out of PEL 96 to Prime Global Energies, announced last week, as well as the Shell, QatarEnergy and Namcor Merlin-1X discovery on PEL 39 announced earlier in June.