French oil giant TotalEnergies has pushed back its final investment decision (FID) on its major offshore oil discovery in Namibia to 2026, CEO Patrick Pouyanne has announced.
The Venus oilfield, initially expected to reach a production capacity of 160,000 barrels per day, is now targeting 150,000 barrels per day, reflecting revised projections from the company’s investor day in October.
Pouyanne had previously set the end of 2025 as the FID timeline during an April earnings call.
TotalEnergies continues to grapple with cost challenges, particularly its internal requirement to achieve breakeven at below US$20 per barrel.
The company also revealed plans to commence drilling at the Marula prospect in the first quarter of 2025, followed by Olympe toward the end of the same year.
Namibia has emerged as a promising frontier for offshore oil exploration, despite the country having no existing oil and gas production.
However, high gas content in recent discoveries has complicated development efforts, increasing project costs.
Last month, Shell wrote down the value of its Namibian discoveries, while Chevron declared its initial findings commercially unviable, underscoring the challenges facing oil majors in the region.
