Venus

Venus Conventional Oil Field, Equatorial Guinea

Location and Ownership

• Located in block P (PDA) in shallow water in Equatorial Guinea.
• Owned by Atlas Petroleum International, GEPetrol, and VAALCO Energy.

Discovery and Development

• Discovered in 2005.
• The project is currently in the approval stage and is expected to start commercial production in 2026.

Technical Details

• Water depth of around 830 feet.
• Development involves the drilling of approximately three wells.
• The development cost is expected to be $310 million.

Production

• Production is forecast to peak in 2028 and continue until the field reaches its economic limit in 2041.

Venus Oil Field, Namibia

Location and Ownership

• Located in block 2913B in the Orange Basin, offshore southern Namibia.
• Operated by TotalEnergies with a 45.25% interest; other partners include QatarEnergy (30%), Impact Oil and Gas (9.5%), and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (10%).

Discovery

• Discovered in 2022, marking Africa's largest ever Sub-Saharan oil find with an estimated 1.5 to 2 billion barrels of oil.

Technical Details

• The Venus 1-X well was drilled in approximately 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) of water and encountered around 84 meters of net oil pay in a good-quality Lower Cretaceous reservoir.
• The field is part of the deepwater Orange Basin, which is considered a significant exploration hotspot.

Production and Reserves

• Estimated recoverable oil reserves range from 1.5 to 2 billion barrels, with phase one expected to exploit around 920 million barrels of oil.
• The field has the potential to produce approximately 250,000 barrels of oil per day.
• Production is expected to start in 2029, with the field's resources including oil, gas, and associated liquids.

Development and Future Plans

• Technical studies are underway to define the development concept for the ultra-deepwater Venus oil discovery.
• Appraisal operations and further drilling are planned to assess the commerciality and extent of the discovery.
• TotalEnergies and its partners are also assessing high-impact drilling opportunities south of the Venus oil field and planning for an appraisal well on the Mangetti Fan structure.

Economic and Strategic Impact

• The discovery has significant implications for Namibia's oil and gas sector, transforming the country from an exploration graveyard to an exploration hotspot.
• The project involves strategic partnerships and could lead to multiple development phases, potentially involving several FPSOs, similar to projects in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana but tailored to the harsher environment in the Orange Basin.