Namibian Mining News The Professional Mining Journal
Related Articles
A significant development as Namibia sets itself as a new energy leader in southern Africa, NAMCOR, the national oil firm of Namibia, has said the country might soon be generating more than 2.5 million tons of natural gas annually.
Mtundeni Ndafyaalako, Executive of Upstream Development & Production at NAMCOR, spoke at the Namibia International Energy Conference on April 24 and presented the company’s twin-track plan meant to expedite gas commercialization. The strategy, he said, is to aggressively increase exploration activities to access newly found deposits while improving laws to support cooperative infrastructure development.
Ndafyaalako remarked, “We now have a clearer picture of our production potential.” “Our gas monetization plan is meant to draw additional participants and investment by demonstrating how competively and effectively Namibia intends to put its gas to market.
Recent finds since 2022 have given new impetus to Namibia’s goals, and early-stage assessments indicate the nation could meet the 2.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) threshold earlier than many expected.
Manfriedt Muundjua, Deputy General Manager at BW Kudu, underlined at the conference in the interim the need of making sure Namibians gain directly from the gas boom. As part of a larger effort to give skills transfer, local procurement, and ownership a priority, BW Kudu has begun assigning Namibian interns to technical positions formerly occupied by foreign personnel.
“There is a genuine chance here to create local knowledge and economic involvement as well as wells and pipelines,” Muundjua remarked. He also verified that more drilling in the Kudu Gas Field is set to start in October, in line with NAMCOR’s focus on ongoing exploration.
Financial specialists underlined the need for infrastructure improvement to meet the speed of resource expansion. Paul Eardley-Taylor, Head of Oil & Gas Coverage for Southern Africa at Standard Bank, underlined the need of a “shadow infrastructure”—a network of energy-related enterprises being built via public-private partnerships.
“Especially with the worldwide rise in demand for critical minerals and dependable energy, Namibia has a chance to replace South Africa as the region’s main energy hub,” Eardley-Taylor said. He said that funding gas infrastructure and creating strong local energy markets might be significantly influenced by income from Namibia’s oil finds.
Looking further forward, Ian Thom, Research Director for Upstream at consulting Wood Mackenzie, estimated that Namibia may complete a thorough Gas Master Plan within the following nine months. Thom underlined gas as a major engine for increasing energy availability throughout the nation given fewer than 60% of the people already linked to the national grid.
“Given the significant initial expenses of constructing export facilities, exporting electricity produced from gas could provide more value to Namibia than exporting the raw gas itself,” Thom said.
Industry executives’ message was clear: strategic planning, local empowerment, and infrastructure investment would be vital to unlocking the full potential of the country’s gas sector as Namibia hurries to convert its energy finds into real economic benefits.
