Chevron farms out partial interest in Namibia exploration license to Equinor
Chevron Corp. has agreed to farm out to Equinor a portion of its interest in an offshore Namibia exploration license that contains a drill-ready prospect slated for drilling before yearend.
Harmattan Energy Ltd., a Chevron subsidiary in the country, agreed to farm out 17.4% of its 52.5% participating interest in Petroleum Exploration License 90 (PEL 90) in Namibia's Orange Basin.
The transaction marks Equinor's entry into Namibia and comes ahead of Chevron's planned Nabba-1X exploration well on PEL 90, which the operator expects to drill before yearend as part of a broader multi-well exploration program across Sub-Saharan Africa. Chevron offered the detail a day earlier in announcing a recent oil and gas condensate discovery offshore Angola.
Nabba-1X will be Chevron's second well offshore Namibia following Kapana-1X, where the company gathered geological data but did not encounter commercial hydrocarbons, according to a January 2025 Reuters report.
Positioned within the South Atlantic Margin, the Orange Basin has attracted increased exploration interest in recent years. The southern boundary of PEL 90 lies 60 km from the TotalEnergies-operated Venus-1 light oil discovery (Block 2913B) and Shell plc's Graff discovery (PEL 39), which point to the basin's resource potential.
"Namibia is a promising basin that adds attractive option value to our portfolio and complements our broader Atlantic Margin position," said Philippe Mathieu, executive vice-president for exploration and production, international, Equinor.
The license covers Block 2813B. Following closing, which is subject to regulatory approvals and customary conditions, Chevron's interest in PEL 90 will decrease to 35.1% from 52.5%. Other partners are QatarEnergy (27.5%), Trago Energy (10%), and state-owned National Petroleum Corp. of Namibia (NAMCOR) (10%). Financial details were not disclosed.
Shell revives momentum in Namibia's Orange Basin
Shell's Graff-1 discovery in Namibia's Orange Basin in 2022 helped position the basin as a frontier area to watch. Follow-on discoveries, including Jonker, reinforced the resource potential of the play.
The operator in 2025 took a $400-million impairment on its Namibia portfolio after appraisal and evaluation work raised concerns about commerciality, including reservoir complexity and gas content. The company continued to evaluate its acreage, however, and in 2026 resumed drilling, leading to the Merlin-1X well, where Shell reported light oil and "encouraging" subsurface results.
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Mikaila Adams has 20 years of experience as an editor, most of which has been centered on the oil and gas industry. She enjoyed 12 years focused on the business/finance side of the industry as an editor for Oil & Gas Journal's sister publication, Oil & Gas Financial Journal (OGFJ). After OGFJ ceased publication in 2017, she joined Oil & Gas Journal and was later named Managing Editor - News. Her role has expanded into content strategy. She holds a degree from Texas Tech University.