The government of Angola says it is considering investing in Namibia’s oil sector following the recent discovery of three commercial wells off the country’s western coast.
It comes as authorities in Namibia have said the country’s biggest oil discoveries could help double its economy by 2040.
“We are not only eager to collaborate with Namibia but to also invest in the oil industry, though only after careful analysis, then our investments can be determined. For now we will study the progress,” said Dr Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Angola’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas.
He said this following a closed-door session where a high-level delegation from Angola met Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy officials led by Minister Tom Alweendo, in which the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on how they can collaborate, invest and develop the oil sector, for the country to be able to leverage from its natural resources.
“We want Namibia to learn from our mistakes, we did a lot of errors and also attained good things. Therefore Angola having been trading oil for years, it is a good opportunity for Namibia to leverage from that pool of infrastructural, education and skills resources, in order to make oil a success story,” stated Azevedo.
Among areas of collaborations, are how to curb the illegal fuel smuggling which is rife in the northern regions, oil education and technical support; equipment and infrastructure sharing.
Last month a third well of oil was discovered at the Jonker-1X deep-water exploration well, located in the offshore region approximately 270 kilometres off the Namibian coast. The exploration was carried out in partnership with QatarEnergy and Shell. The Jonker-1X well was drilled in the Orange Basin, Block 2913A & 2914B (PEL 0039) using the Odfjell Deepsea Bollsta semi-submersible rig to a depth of 6,168 meters in a water depth of 2,210 meters.
Meanwhile, last year QuaterEnery and Shell made an impressive discovery at Graff-1X and Venus-1X, a development that stunned the world as Namibia position itself economically.
“The MoU is very important, in terms of us to learn the skills and fast track the learning process we embarked upon since discovering our oil. Angola built up skills over the years and there is no reason why we should not tap from their expertise, thus the need to work together,” Alweendo said.
“As we also have been saying, apart from the fact that we get the revenue, there is always a bigger way to benefit from this industry, which is through increased local content. This means the majority of the goods and services needed to serve the industry must be made available locally, and that it is another form in which we can greatly leverage,” he added.
Alweendo assured to translate the MoU into concrete action, adding that the two nations have agreed to set-up a committee of experts to meet on a regular basis so they can evaluate progress made under the agreement time-to-time.
There is always a notion that oil is a curse, however, Azevedo begged to differ saying there are more opportunities associated.
“Minerals are a blessing, the only time it is bad is when human kind messes up, thus turning it into a curse. I have the hope, the oil discovery will grow the economy, and bridge the gap between the rich and poor,” he stressed.
Research conducted by investment advisory firm Cirrus Capital revealed that the country has the potential to generate over N$500 billion in revenue in the coming decade through taxes and royalties from the oil sector, with the Ministry of Mines and Energy forecasting the government to collect 55% of all revenues to be generated from oil through taxes.
