TotalEnergies SE has completed a transaction to acquire a 40 percent operating stake in the block containing the Mopane discoveries from Galp Energia SGPS SA in exchange for the latter obtaining a 10 percent interest in the Venus discovery license.
“TotalEnergies’ entry as operator of the giant Mopane discovery marks a key milestone in our journey to establish a major production hub in Namibia”, TotalEnergies chair and chief executive Patrick Pouyanné said in an online statement, thanking authorities in the Southern African country for swift approval of the transaction. “This transaction positions TotalEnergies as the operator of Namibia’s two largest oil discoveries and strengthens its position in the Orange Basin, supporting the long-term value creation from prolific licenses.
“Exploration opportunities are already lining up beyond the Mopane development, which we will start appraising as early as the second half of 2026 aiming at taking the FID [final investment decision] of the project in 2028, after a three-appraisal-well campaign”.
For Venus, the partners plan to make a FID by yearend, TotalEnergies said in a statement January 30, 2026 after the swap parties met with Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.
In Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 83, which includes Mopane, Portugal’s Galp retains 40 percent. The National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) owns 10 percent. Local player Custos Energy (Pty) Ltd holds 10 percent.
In PEL56, France’s TotalEnergies has now reduced its operating stake to 35.25 percent. State-owned QatarEnergy also has 35.25 percent. Namcor owns 10 percent. London-based Impact Oil & Gas Ltd owns 9.5 percent.
Also part of the transaction, TotalEnergies has now reduced its operating stake in PEL91 to 33.09 percent with Galp acquiring 9.39 percent. QatarEnergy owns 33.03 percent, Namcor 15 percent and Impact 9.5 percent.
Galp has announced five discoveries in PEL83’s Mopane area. Mopane-1X, Mopane-2X, appraisal well Mopane-1A and appraisal well Mopane 2A were proven 2024. Mopane-3X was proven 2025.
In PEL56, TotalEnergies announced a “significant discovery” through the Venus 1-X well on February 24, 2022.
Venus holds about 750 million barrels of oil equivalent resources, and could produce 150,000 barrels per day starting 2030, according to a TotalEnergies presentation published February 11, 2026.
TotalEnergies is also present on South Africa’s side of the Orange Basin, where it has expanded by acquiring operatorship of Block 3B/4B in 2024. The lease sits next to TotalEnergies’ operated DWOB block.
In another Namibian basin, TotalEnergies on February 6, 2026 announced agreements to acquire a 42.5 percent operating stake in the PEL104 exploration license from Eight Offshore Investments Holdings and Maravilla Oil and Gas (Pty) Ltd.
The license covers about 11,000 square kilometers (over 4,200 square miles) in the Lüderitz basin offshore Namibia, TotalEnergies said.
After the transactions, TotalEnergies will be partners with Brazil’s state-owned Petróleo Brasileiro SA (42.5 percent), Namcor (10 percent) and Eight (five percent).
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