Equinor Hopes for a Major Oil Discovery Offshore Namibia

Philippe Mathieu, Equinor's Executive Vice President for International Exploration and Production, said on Tuesday, Shahrivar 3, 1405 (August 25, 2026), on the sidelines of an energy conference in Stavanger, Norway, that the Norwegian company hopes to make a "pretty big" oil discovery within its Petroleum Exploration License 90 (PEL 90) offshore Namibia, similar to discoveries TotalEnergies and Galp have made in recent years in the same Orange Basin. According to Oilprice.com, Equinor entered Namibia's exploration rush a week earlier by buying a 17.4 percent participating interest in PEL 90 from Harmattan Energy, a Chevron subsidiary in Namibia. The license provides access to a drill ready prospect scheduled for testing in 2026.

The report said Namibia has hosted major discoveries by TotalEnergies, Galp and Shell in recent years, and BP has also increased its stakes in three exploration blocks there this year, though the country still lacks the infrastructure to fast track development of these finds.