By: OrePulse

Qatar's state-owned energy major has struck a deal to take over a quarter of Namibia's offshore PEL 82 exploration permit, the company announced on November 9. Chevron is the seller, and completion depends on regulatory sign-off; neither side revealed what QatarEnergy is paying.

Under the arrangement, Chevron's local unit, Chevron Namibia Exploration II Limited, will hand over the quarter stake while holding on to operatorship with 55 percent, down from the 80 percent position it built up in 2025. Namibia's state oil firm, Namcor E&P, and Custos Energy will each keep a 10 percent share.

PEL 82 spans blocks 2112B and 2212A and extends across roughly 11,444 square kilometers of seabed, in water ranging from 350 to 2,300 meters deep.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, who serves as Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs as well as QatarEnergy's president and chief executive, said the acquisition builds on the company's ties with Chevron and extends its reach in Namibia's offshore sector.

Chevron picked up its original 80 percent stake and the operator role in PEL 82 through the same subsidiary in early 2025, according to information Custos Energy gave to industry media at the time. Around 70 percent of the license area already has seismic data on file, including upwards of 3,500 kilometers of two-dimensional lines and close to 9,500 square kilometers of three-dimensional surveys. Two wells, Murombe-1 and Wingat-1, have already been drilled there.

The transaction is QatarEnergy's second purchase of a Namibian license from a Chevron-linked entity. In December 2024, QatarEnergy agreed to take a 27.5 percent stake in the adjacent PEL 90 license from Harmattan Energy, another Chevron subsidiary, which kept a 52.5 percent operating position.

QatarEnergy has also been active elsewhere in Namibia's offshore acreage. In June, it and Shell reported an oil find at the Merlin-1X well in the Orange Basin, the tenth well drilled on the PEL 39 license.

Prior to the PEL 82 deal, QatarEnergy already held stakes in four other Namibian offshore licenses covering roughly 34,000 square kilometers combined: 45 percent of PEL 39, 35.25 percent of PEL 56, 33.03 percent of PEL 91 and 27.5 percent of PEL 90.