Shell Country Chair joins Namibia panel at Africa Oil Week
Africa Oil Week (AOW), is known as the voice of the African Upstream bringing together an international community of industry and governments committed to enabling a prosperous energy outlook for Africa.
Namibia has been in the spotlight at the event for some years now. Describing Namibia, the organisers said that the recent discoveries of hydrocarbons have brought exciting investment opportunities which could lead to considerable oil revenue for this diverse, new energy hub.
In a panel session entitled; “Planning for Success in Namibia”, AOW invited Shell Namibia’s Country Chair, Adeleye Falade; Namibia’s Petroleum Commissioner, Maggy Shino; Chevron’s Country Manager for Namibia, Channa Kurukulasuriya and Peter Wijnen, Business Development at PGS, to discuss what can be learned from the past to ensure that these new discoveries are equitable and provide socioeconomic benefits to the region.
Adeleye Falade shared Shell’s history in Namibia.
With an office in country for almost ten years, Shell and its JV partners discovered hydrocarbons in early 2022 and have been working at pace on an exploration and appraisal programme of the PEL0039 license;
"The results so far are encouraging and we remain hopeful. Our focus is on fully understanding what oil and gas is under the seabed and how it might end up being produced."
Adeleye emphasised the importance of industry and Government working together to realise the potential of the Orange Basin;
It’s a tremendous effort by everyone involved. Our license covers a large area at 12,000sq km and in water depths of up to 3000m. We couldn’t do it without the collaboration of the Government of Namibia and our many contractors and suppliers. I visited Walvis Bay, our logistics base for our offshore operations recently and saw for myself the vast scale of what it takes to deliver our drilling campaign.
"The panellists emphasised the potential they see in Namibia pointing to the investments being made but also highlighted the importance of putting in place sound policy to build local content."
Shell and its JV partners recognise the importance of this win-win, ensuring that a thriving oil and gas industry brings in-country value and Adeleye stressed;
“Maximising in-country value is very important to us and we prioritise local goods, services and skills and hold our contractors responsible to do the same.”
In summing up, the panellists all agreed that that Namibia presents a vast opportunity and unlocking its resources will require a collaborative effort and a focus on ensuring the benefit it brings to Namibia.
