The EU has backed Namibia’s green-hydrogen ambitions with around €1 billion, hoping the country could eventually supply Europe. But Namibia is increasingly turning toward oil and gas after major offshore discoveries. European companies are leading the charge: TotalEnergies now operates both the Venus and Mopane discoveries. Brussels dreams hydrogen; European industry drills for oil.
The three major oil discovery stories in Namibia are:
- TotalEnergies (France) discovered Venus in 2022, one of Namibia’s largest offshore oil discoveries.
- Shell (UK) discovered Graff in 2022, followed by additional discoveries in the same licence area.
- Galp (Portugal) discovered Mopane in 2024 and later drilled several successful appraisal wells. Galp initially estimated the Mopane complex could contain more than 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent in place.