Shell to Write Down $400 Million on Namibia Oil Discovery
Shell will write down approximately $400 million on an oil discovery offshore Namibia, deeming it not commercially viable—a setback for the southern African country’s aspirations to become a crude producer. Shell told Reuters that the discovered oil and gas resources in offshore block PEL39 in Namibia “cannot currently be confirmed for commercial development.”
Shell and its partners, Qatar Energy and Namibia’s national oil company, first discovered hydrocarbons in block PEL39 in 2022. Alongside a nearby discovery by Total Energies, this sparked significant global interest in Namibia, which currently has no oil and gas production.
What does this mean for Namibia, whose hopes for rapid economic recovery are pinned on the viability of this oil project? We were joined by Immanuel Mulunga, the former managing director of the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR), to explore the implications.
