Namibia has pledged to maintain predictable rules and timely decision-making for oil and gas investors, but says companies will also be expected to honour their investment, performance and conduct commitments as the country prepares to develop its offshore discoveries and targets the emergence of domestic production by 2030.
Vice President Lucia Witbooi said the transition from exploration into development would require Namibia to strengthen its institutions, regulatory framework, infrastructure and domestic capabilities while ensuring that international investment creates economic value extending well beyond offshore oil production.
Speaking at the official opening of the Namibia Oil and Gas Conference in Windhoek on Wednesday on behalf of President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Witbooi said discoveries in the Orange Basin had transformed Namibia’s global energy profile and attracted major international energy companies and investors.
Venus and Mopane were moving the national conversation from exploration towards development and production, while recent exploration results from Shell’s Merlin-1X well in PEL 0039 had provided further evidence of the basin’s geological potential, she said.
However, Witbooi cautioned against treating discoveries themselves as Namibia’s measure of petroleum success.
“Discovery is not the destination. A resource beneath our waters becomes a national success only when it is responsibly developed and translated into tangible improvements in the lives of our people,” she said.
“It must become employment for Namibians, opportunities for our enterprises, skills for our young people, technology for our institutions, infrastructure for our economy, revenues for national development and savings for future generations.”
She said decisions on field development, procurement, infrastructure, financing, technology, skills, taxation, environmental management and partnerships would ultimately determine how much of the value generated by petroleum Namibia retained and multiplied.
The state must prepare itself for development
Witbooi said Namibia now needed to move from “resource optimism to disciplined execution” as offshore projects advance towards potential development.
That would require stronger institutions, greater regulatory certainty, infrastructure and logistics, a competitive domestic supplier base and a workforce prepared for the technical demands of the industry.
The State itself would also need greater capability.
Namibia had to ensure government possessed the capacity to “negotiate, monitor and manage increasingly complex petroleum operations”, she said.
Witbooi said the government’s objective was not simply to attract foreign capital, despite acknowledging that international capital, technology and expertise would be essential for developing complex deepwater resources.
“We welcome international capital, technology and expertise because these are essential to developing complex deepwater resources. But partnership must be reciprocal,” she said.
International investors should view Namibia not simply as a geological opportunity but as a country in which lasting industrial, human-capital and commercial partnerships could be established.
Government, in turn, would maintain a stable and credible investment environment based on political stability, constitutional democracy, an independent judiciary and the rule of law.
But Witbooi said demands for predictability applied to both sides.
“Government must be predictable in its rules and decisions, while investors must be predictable in their commitments, performance and conduct.”
Speed matters as Venus approaches decisions
That relationship is becoming increasingly important as Namibia approaches major development decisions.
Witbooi described TotalEnergies’ Venus discovery as the country’s most advanced offshore development project, saying publicly stated plans envisage an FPSO producing approximately 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with first oil around 2030.
The development remains subject to final investment approval and completion of regulatory, fiscal, environmental and other processes.
Mopane is progressing in parallel through further exploration and appraisal intended to establish its resource base and development concept.
Witbooi acknowledged that timely delivery of those projects mattered but said the desire for speed could not override Namibia’s longer-term interests.
“Speed cannot come at the expense of sound governance, appropriate fiscal returns, environmental protection or long-term national interests,” she said.
“We must demonstrate that Namibia can be both investment-friendly and institutionally firm; both commercially competitive and protective of the public interest.”
The Sixth National Development Plan places the emerging petroleum industry within Namibia’s wider economic transformation strategy and sets 2030 outcomes for domestic oil and gas production.
Witbooi said achieving that would require stronger legal and policy frameworks, sustainable field development, infrastructure and investment growth, skills, research and innovation.
But she warned against allowing petroleum to develop into an enclave industry disconnected from the rest of the Namibian economy.
“Petroleum must not become an enclave industry operating alongside the Namibian economy. It must become a catalyst for diversification, industrialisation and enterprise development,” she said.
The government wants the value chain to extend from offshore developments into ports, logistics, fabrication, engineering, marine and financial services, information technology, environmental services, catering, accommodation, training, research and development, and manufacturing.
Local content must begin before contracts
Witbooi said the National Upstream Petroleum Local Content Policy was central to ensuring that economic activity generated by petroleum reached Namibians.
She said Cabinet approved the policy “in principle” following consultations, and the government has continued refining the framework through stakeholder engagement.
The policy seeks to build Namibian capacity, maximise employment, increase local supplier participation, facilitate technology and knowledge transfer and promote Namibian ownership and financing across the petroleum value chain.
Witbooi nevertheless warned that local content could not come at the expense of safety, quality, efficiency or international competitiveness.
The objective was ultimately to establish Namibian suppliers capable of competing not only domestically but eventually in regional and international markets.
She called on operators and contractors to identify procurement opportunities early and incorporate training, technology transfer, mentorship, secondments and supplier development into project planning.
“Waiting until major contracts are already awarded will be too late,” Witbooi said.
She also warned Namibian businesses that government policy alone would not guarantee their participation.
Petroleum is capital intensive, technologically demanding and subject to exacting standards, meaning local businesses would need to invest in quality, certification, financial discipline, project management, health and safety, environmental performance and technical competence.
“Government can create access and a policy framework; competitiveness must ultimately be built by the market participants themselves,” Witbooi said.
Oil money must not be consumed
Witbooi also placed petroleum revenue management among the major challenges Namibia must address before production begins.
She said revenues would have to be managed transparently, prudently and with the long-term public interest in mind, pointing to the Welwitschia Sovereign Wealth Fund as part of the institutional structure intended to preserve finite resource wealth for future generations.
“Petroleum revenue must not be treated as an invitation to consume more today at the expense of tomorrow,” she said.
Part of the income should instead strengthen public finances, support productive investment and preserve wealth for future generations.
“Fiscal discipline will be as important as fiscal revenue,” Witbooi said, adding that government would continue strengthening institutions, systems and reporting mechanisms supporting accountability and public confidence.
Government also sees the petroleum industry as an opportunity to establish Namibia as a regional energy and services centre.
Witbooi said Namibia’s Atlantic location, ports, political stability and growing energy investment pipeline provided a foundation for capabilities that could eventually service projects elsewhere in the region.
Achieving that ambition would require deliberate investment in ports, logistics, marine services, storage, fabrication, training and specialised industrial infrastructure.
Government could not build that ecosystem alone, she said, calling for partnerships involving the State, operators, investors, financial and educational institutions, local authorities and Namibian businesses.
International development partners could contribute technical assistance, knowledge exchange and institutional capacity building, particularly where these enabled Namibians progressively to assume greater responsibility for managing and developing the country’s resources.
Witbooi also identified financing as a constraint that could undermine the government’s push for greater Namibian participation.
“Local participation cannot depend entirely on foreign capital,” she said.
“We must build mechanisms that allow credible Namibian businesses to finance growth, participate in supply chains and capture a greater share of the value generated by the sector.”
Her comments broaden the local-content challenge beyond reserving jobs and procurement opportunities for Namibians to whether domestic companies have sufficient capital to develop the capabilities required to compete for large petroleum contracts.
The government is therefore calling on Namibia’s financial institutions and investors to develop financing capabilities suited to the emerging industry.
Conference draws more than 1,500 delegates
Witbooi said the conference’s growth reflected rising international and domestic interest in Namibia’s petroleum prospects.
More than 1,500 delegates and over 70 exhibitors were participating in this year’s conference, compared with 885 delegates two years ago.
She cautioned, however, that attendance numbers were not themselves a measure of progress.
“The true measure of this Conference will be what happens after these doors close,” Witbooi said.
She called on government to listen to industry, industry to understand government priorities, financiers to identify viable opportunities, Namibian businesses to establish partnerships and young people to understand the standards required to enter the sector.
Ultimately, Witbooi said Namibia’s ambition extended beyond joining the ranks of oil-producing countries.
“Our ambition is not simply to become an oil-producing country. Our ambition is to become a country that uses the petroleum opportunity intelligently to accelerate economic transformation,” she said.
“We want an industry that leaves behind skills, companies, infrastructure, institutions, technology and financial assets. We want future generations to look back and conclude that Namibia used a finite resource to build enduring national capabilities.”
