TotalEnergies has raised the prospect of a second potential development offshore Namibia.
CEO Patrick Pouyanné, speaking at the Energy Intelligence Forum, said there would be “a development for sure, maybe two”, in response to questions on the company’s finds in the Orange Basin.
However, he cautioned against some of the more outlandish claims on the Venus find.
People are speaking a lot but you know exploration, you need to drill. We have a lot of small partners who love to speak,” Pouyanné said.
The first flow test on the Venus find was positive, he reported. “We will make a second test and then drill to the north.”
The well to the west, Nara, was reported to be unsuccessful at Total’s recent capital markets day. “We are drilling a new exploration well in the north and then to the south. And we know that our neighbour has also found oil, which demonstrates that in the 21st century you can still discover a new oil province.”
The French company has also had success in Suriname, Pouyanné said. The initial discoveries were gas, he noted, which posed problems around development.
In September, though, Total approved plans to move ahead with a 200,000 barrel per day development, tapping a resource of around 700 million barrels.
Total is a confident operator in the deepwater, with Pouyanné saying it was in the company’s DNA. The challenge in the offshore is around controlling costs, amid inflationary pressures.
“For me, it’s easier to develop offshore projects than onshore projects. Onshore there are stakeholders, who are more complex to manage.”
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