TotalEnergies emerges as top bidder for Galp’s Namibia Mopane oil stake

(Bloomberg) – TotalEnergies SE has emerged as the leading bidder to buy a stake in Galp Energia SGPS SA’s major oil discovery offshore Namibia, according to people familiar with the matter.

The French energy giant has pulled ahead of rival oil majors vying for the 40% stake Galp is selling in the Mopane field, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. 

A Galp representative reiterated that the company expects to find a partner before the end of the year from a shortlist of candidates, while declining to provide further details. A spokesperson for TotalEnergies declined to comment.

Galp has previously said it plans to divest half of its 80% holding in Mopane to a partner that would take over as operator of the project. Analysts at UBS Group AG said in an October note that they expect Galp to sell the 40% stake for about €200 million in upfront cash, plus roughly €3 billion in project costs that the buyer would cover on Galp’s behalf. 

The Mopane discovery sits in Namibia’s Orange basin, one of the hottest offshore exploration zones globally which has already drawn interest from companies including TotalEnergies and Shell Plc. Reuters previously reported that Chevron Corp., whose representatives weren’t immediately available comment on Tuesday, was also in the race.

For TotalEnergies, taking a stake and operatorship in Mopane would deepen its push into Namibia’s new exploration hotspot. The company is still negotiating development terms with the government for its nearby Venus discovery — a technically challenging project that could require as much as $11 billion to build a 150,000-barrel-a-day floating production vessel and subsea wells, Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanné said in September.

Galp has estimated the Mopane complex could contain as much as 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which would place it among the largest oil finds globally in the past decade. Galp also has upstream operations in Brazil and in São Tomé and Príncipe, off Africa’s west coast.

In October, Galp executives said the Lisbon-based company was in advanced talks with multiple parties to sell the stake.