When Shell’s early Orange Basin wells captured global attention in early 2022, TotalEnergies was quietly drilling a few blocks away in some of the deepest waters off southern Africa.
On 24 February 2022, the French supermajor confirmed that its Venus-1X exploration well in Block 2913B, operated under Petroleum Exploration Licence 56, had intersected an 84-metre column of light oil within Lower Cretaceous sands.
The Venus-1X well is located in the southern portion of Namibia’s Orange Basin, roughly 290 kilometres offshore Lüderitz, within Block 2913B under Petroleum Exploration Licence 56. It lies just north of the maritime border with South Africa in ultra-deep waters of approximately 3,000 metres, making it one of the deepest wells ever drilled off the Namibian coast. The block, which spans approximately 8,215 square kilometres, borders Shell’s PEL 39 to the north—home to the Graff and Jonker discoveries—and Impact Oil & Gas’s Block 2912 to the west. Geologically, Venus is positioned within the Lower Cretaceous slope-fan system of the Orange Basin, a prolific deep-marine play fairway that extends northward from South Africa’s margin.
Seismic and well data indicate that the field taps into a thick, oil-charged turbidite complex, part of the same stratigraphic trend that hosts Shell’s light-oil discoveries. In essence, Venus sits in the ultra-deep southern sector of the Orange Basin—south of Shell’s acreage and southwest of Lüderitz—now recognised as the core of Namibia’s emerging oil province.
The discovery, made in nearly 3,000 metres of water by the Maersk Voyager drillship, was hailed by Offshore Magazine as the opening of “a frontier oil play offshore Namibia.”
At the time, the Venus partnership was structured with TotalEnergies (40 per cent), QatarEnergy (30 per cent), Impact Oil & Gas (20 per cent), and Namcor (10 per cent) — a blend of global capital, sovereign backing, and national participation that has since become Namibia’s preferred development model.
In January 2024, TotalEnergies expanded its position by acquiring an additional 10.5 per cent interest in Block 2913B and 9.39 per cent in the neighbouring Block 2912 from Impact Oil & Gas, stating that the transaction would strengthen operator control and streamline decision-making for future field development.
Since the initial strike, TotalEnergies has drilled several appraisal and nearby wells — including Venus-1A and Nara-1X — confirming the presence of hydrocarbons across a wide area of the structure.
The company has stated that reservoir quality and continuity are encouraging, supporting the concept of subsea wells tied back to a Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessel capable of processing approximately 150,000 barrels per day.
Reuters reports that TotalEnergies aims to take a final investment decision in late 2026, with first oil projected between 2029 and 2030.
Namibia’s Petroleum Commissioner told the same publication that the company is targeting production costs below US$20 per barrel.
This level would make Venus one of the most competitive deep-water projects globally. World Oil corroborates that timeline, noting that the project could anchor Namibia’s entry into large-scale oil production before the end of the decade.
While TotalEnergies has not disclosed the full scale of the find, analysts cited by Rystad Energy, Reuters, and the Journal of Petroleum Technology estimate recoverable resources of approximately two billion barrels, with additional appraisal work underway to determine the extent of oil-in-place volumes.
Namcor has called the discovery “transformational,” projecting that the field could eventually underpin a new national petroleum economy.
According to Offshore-Energy.biz, TotalEnergies has deferred its investment decision to 2026 while evaluating “two Namibian prospects” on its 2025 drilling schedule and optimising development scenarios.
The same outlet notes that engineering and subsea costs for Venus are expected to fall within the US$6 billion to US$8 billion range, a figure consistent with industry estimates reported by Upstream Online.
For TotalEnergies, Venus is more than a single oilfield — it is the centrepiece of a new Atlantic-margin portfolio extending from Namibia to Angola.
The project’s balanced 40/30/20/10 equity structure merges international expertise with Namibian ownership, while its technical success has confirmed the Orange Basin’s potential as a multi-billion-barrel province.
Should the partners meet their 2026 FID target, Venus could deliver first oil before 2030, turning geological promise into one of Africa’s most consequential new petroleum realities.
