E&P

The acquisition aligns with the major's upstream portfolio expansion strategy. (Image source: bp)

Namibia draws in oil major bp's interests in three offshore exploration blocks as it seeks the acquisition of 60% stakes from Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas

The move aligns with the major's upstream portfolio expansion strategy, and follows the exploration success of its Azule Energy venture in the region.

Once the formal approvals from the Namibian government are in, bp will assume operatorship of three blocks – PEL97, PEL99 and PEL100 – in the Walvis Basin while Eco Atlantic continues as a partner, alongside Namibia’s national oil company NAMCOR, following transaction closing conditions being met.

Gordon Birrell, bp’s executive vice president, production and operations, said, “Namibia is a region attracting growing industry interest and has a number of exciting frontier basins. This agreement marks bp’s entry into the country as an operator, strengthens bp’s exploration portfolio and provides long-term growth potential. We look forward to supporting the country in developing its resources.”

bp announced two exploration discoveries since the beginning of the year, following 12 discoveries in 2025, further strengthening its exploration portfolio in support of long-term organic growth. Since the beginning of 2025, Azule Energy – a 50:50 joint venture between bp and Eni – has announced four hydrocarbon discoveries: the Algaita-01 well and Gajajeira-01 gas find in Angola and the Volans-1X and Capricornus-1X discoveries in Namibia’s Orange Basin. 

Other majors such as TotalEnergies and Galp are already deeply invested in significant projects in the Namibian deep waters. They pledged long-term commitment to the country during a recent meeting with the President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. 

With TotalEnergies acquiring operatorship of Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 83 while Galp stepping into PEL 56 and PEL 91, the partners have expressed high hopes from Namibia's production generation capacity. This confidence builds on past results from the licenses, namely the Mopane and Venus discoveries, which brought the Orange Basin international-scale success.

The meeting in Abuja was a success build upon the existing strong bilateral energy ties.

The group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, has paid a visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador to Nigeria, Salem Saeed Al Shamsi, at the UAE Embassy

The meeting in Abuja was a success as it build upon the existing strong bilateral energy ties between Nigeria and the UAE. The delegates discussed on several topics, ranging from upstream oil and gas investment opportunities, gas development and monetisation to crude oil trading and infrastructure financing. Both parties reaffirmed the sustained relations between the two nations, rooted in mutual respect and a shared commitment to long-term energy cooperation.

Ojulari reemphasised NNPC's role as a commercially driven entity, focused on advancing a solid portfolio of bankable projects across the entire energy value chain. He stressed that the company is welcoming of value-based partnerships with UAE institutions, such as Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC).

The visit reinforces on previously expressed commitments between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and President Mohammed Bin Zayed, as both countries are prioritising the translation of intent into concrete, mutually beneficial project outcomes. 

While strengthening its domestic capabilities, Nigeria is looking to build strong global partnerships as well to facilitate its holistic development. During the 2026 International Energy Week (IEW) in London, Ojulari had highlighted the importance of shared infrastructure, policy alignment, coordinated investment frameworks, cross-border knowledge and technology exchange, integrated gas market development, and sustained regional diplomacy among national oil companies (NOCs). 

Earlier in the year, NNPCL had issued bid calls for investors across the world with an aim to seek partners to share stakes with in some of its assets.

These assets besides, the Nigerian operator already shares several assets in the region with international oil companies, including Shell, Chevron, Eni, and TotalEnergies. 

“We are positioning NNPC Limited as a globally competitive energy company capable of delivering sustainable returns while powering the future of Nigeria and Africa,” said Ojulari.

The lifted barrels will be sold over the coming months.

PetroNor E&P ASA's latest lifting figures at 964,593 barrels of entitlement oil from the PNGF Sud field offshore Congo sets the company's record in single-lifting volumes with a significant overlift over 500,000 barrels

This comes even when production efficiency remained at 86% and not at full capacity due to an infrastructure interruption, which had nearly half of the wells to be shut-in for as many as 16 days in February. Once the wells were back in production during the following month after the completion of all repair works, gross daily output capacity at exit Q1 shot past 31,000 bopd (net 5,200 bopd). The five-well infill programme in Tchibouela East played a significant role in the production boost. 

The lifted barrels will be sold over the coming months with entitlement oil of circa 100,000 barrels per month.

The realised price of the sale will be determined according to the current market conditions and the lifting contract with ADNOC. This realisation will be announced at the end of April.

First quarter average net working interest production was 4,721 bopd, compared with 4,564 bopd in the previous quarter and 4,303 bopd in the first quarter of 2025.

Last year, PetroNor's yield saw a 90% improvement over its 2024 average of 86%. Its impressive lifting figures are attributable to a restocking of significant overlift position while building entitlement oil inventory. 

Block 3/05 Joint Venture partners have signed an agreement with Sonangol.

With an aim to achieve a potential gross production uplift of around 9,000 barrels of oil per day, Afentra has secured contracts to advance its accelerated two-well drilling programme on Block 3/05 offshore Angola

The primary objective will help define the material upside potential in the Pacassa SW area (up to 70 mmbo recoverable) and the Impala field (up to 50 mmbo recoverable). 

The Block 3/05 Joint Venture partners have signed a commercial agreement with Sonangol to use the Borr Grid jackup rig for the well programme. It will begin with the drilling of Pacassa SW, which will determine the next well eligible for drilling, be it the Pacassa SW injection well or the Impala-2 development well.

The Pacassa field which is anticipated to hold up to 210 mmbbls of oil will be drilled from the Pacassa F4 platform. If the drilling is a success, the well will be put to completion before connecting it to the existing production infrastructure. 

The Impala field, on the other hand, can potentially play a significant role in defining the upside potential of the field that can contain up to 200mmbo of oil in place. Impala-2 will be drilled from the Impala wellhead platform into the Impala field around 1000m from the existing Impala-1 production well. Upon completion the well will be connected to the existing production infrastructure. The outcome will also assist in defining the optimum Impala field development which has up to 50mmbo of incremental recoverable resources.

"The ability to accelerate our drilling programme is a pivotal moment for Afentra, marking a clear transition to the execution phase of our organic growth strategy. This opportunity is a direct result of the strong, collaborative partnership we have with Sonangol and the Joint Venture. The funding structure agreed with Sonangol allows us to fast-track the unlocking of significant potential value from both the Pacassa SW area and the Impala field without impacting our 2026 cash capex. This programme is designed to efficiently convert resources into production, growing volumes through our existing infrastructure and delivering tangible value for our shareholders. Crucially, it will also provide invaluable data to de-risk and define future prospectivity across the wider Block 3/05 area, optimising our long-term development plan," said Paul McDade, Chief Executive Officer of Afentra.