TotalEnergies and Chevron have indeed emerged as the front-runners in the auction for a 40% operating stake in Galp’s Mopane oil discovery offshore Namibia.
Galp is expected to announce the winning bidder by the end of 2025. The Mopane field, located in the Orange Basin, is a highly sought-after asset due to estimated resources of at least 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
TotalEnergies and Chevron are currently leading the bidding war, according to industry sources. Both companies hold existing stakes in adjacent oil fields in the Orange Basin, providing potential strategic and operational synergies.
Over a dozen oil companies initially expressed interest, including major players like ExxonMobil, Shell, and Petrobras. ExxonMobil withdrew in June, and Petrobras stated it was outbid by TotalEnergies.
Namibia has no commercial hydrocarbon production currently, but a string of recent high-profile discoveries suggests it could become a top 15 oil producer by 2035.
TotalEnergies already operates the nearby Venus project, a 150,000-barrel-per-day development, and aims for a final investment decision next year. Chevron, after having mixed drilling results in the region earlier this year, views Mopane as a potential key asset to revitalize its frontier exploration portfolio.
A spokesperson for Galp confirmed that negotiations were progressing with a shortlist of preferred bidders who are strongly aligned with Mopane, but declined to name the companies involved.
Note by Alessandro Bazzoni