By: Zawya

French oil major TotalEnergies and Brazil's Petrobras each acquired a 42.5% stake in ​an exploration license offshore Namibia, as both firms look to develop oil in one of the world's last exploration frontiers.

The acquisition of ⁠the stakes in the PEL104 licence marks an expansion of Total's holdings in the southern African country, where it hopes to be the ⁠first to ‌produce oil by the end of the decade.

It is also a step forward for Petrobras in its plans to turn Africa into its main exploratory region outside Brazil.

Oil companies searching to replenish their ⁠reserves have flocked to Namibia, which has no hydrocarbon production, after a string of high-profile discoveries showed the southern African country could become a top 15 oil producer over the next decade.

Partners for more than a decade

Total, which will operate PEL104, already has Venus, a 150,000 barrels-per-day development to the south, as well as a 40% operating stake in ⁠Galp's huge Mopane discovery, estimated to hold ​more than 10 billion barrels of oil.

Petrobras and TotalEnergies, which acquired the licenses for an undisclosed sum from Maravilla Oil and Gas and Eight ‍Offshore Investments Holdings, have had partnerships in oil assets in Brazil for more than a decade.

"We are very pleased to expand our portfolio and continue exploring the ​prolific resources of Namibia, in order to unlock further value that will benefit the country and all stakeholders," Nicolas Terraz, Total's president of exploration and production, said in a statement.

All eyes on Namibia 

Petrobras was one of a dozen firms including Exxon and Shell bidding for the stake in Mopane, which Total won in December.

"We are closely examining the West African coast and the good opportunities in Africa," said Sylvia Anjos, head of exploration and production at Petrobras, adding that the African coast was geologically similar to Brazil.

Petrobras has acquired stakes in fields offshore South Africa and Sao Tome and Principe over the past two years, hoping to benefit from its knowledge of that complex geology, which has led Shell to write down its Namibian assets ⁠as uncommercial and Total to flag higher development costs.

For TotalEnergies, which has gotten ‌between 25% and 40% of its oil and gas from Africa over the past two decades, Namibia represents the chance to replenish its reserves while projects in Mozambique and Uganda face financial and security hurdles.

When the deal is finalized, Maravilla will ‌no longer hold ⁠a stake, while Eight will remain with 5% and Namibia's state-backed Namcor will hold 10%.