TotalEnergies, the French oil giant, has now set a new timeline for taking the final investment decision (FID) on its offshore oil discovery off the coast of Namibia, expecting to make that decision in 2026, according to CEO Patrick Pouyanne, who shared this information during a press briefing on Wednesday.
The project, once approved, is now expected to have a production capacity of 150,000 barrels per day, which is slightly lower than the original estimate of 160,000 barrels per day discussed during the company’s investor day in October. This adjustment comes after earlier projections. Pouyanne had previously aimed to make the FID decision by the end of 2025, but the timeline has been extended.
TotalEnergies has expressed difficulties in meeting its internal requirement for breakeven, which is set at under $20 per barrel, making it challenging to move forward with the investment decision. The offshore oil discoveries in Namibia, while promising, are complicated by a high level of gas content, which will make development more costly.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that Namibia currently has no oil or gas production infrastructure. In the face of these challenges, other major oil companies, such as Shell and Chevron, have scaled back their expectations in Namibia.
Recently, Shell wrote down the value of its Namibian discoveries, while Chevron declared its initial findings commercially unviable.
