Shell gets ready to produce oil in offshore Namibia

Shell is preparing to launch a new drilling campaign in the PEL 39 exploration block offshore Namibia from April 2026 with its partners QatarEnergy and Namibia's national oil company, Namcor.

Shell logo and stock graph are seen through a magnifier displayed in this illustration taken 4 September 2022. Image credit: Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Shell's Namibia country chair, Eduardo Rodriguez, said in a LinkedIn post that the London-listed energy group had awarded the contract for the Deepsea Mira drilling unit, operated by Odfjell Drilling and owned by Northern Ocean.

The company is circling back to the Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 39 block offshore Namibia after writing down around $400m in January over an oil discovery it deemed commercially unviable.

Image credit: Reuters/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo

TotalEnergies solidifies stake in Mopane discovery

Alban Kacher, Shadia Nasralla and Sergio Goncalves 10 Dec 2025

The Orange Basin, where the block is located and which extends into South African waters, has been a global exploration hotspot for energy firms after discoveries by Shell, TotalEnergies and Galp.

Namibia is yet to produce any oil but is aiming for its first output by 2030.