BP-Eni joint venture Azule acquires 42.5% stake in Namibia offshore oil bloc

Azule Energy, an equal joint venture between BP and Italian oil major Eni for their Angolan business, has signed an agreement with Rhino Resources of Namibia for a 42.5 per cent interest in the country’s offshore oil bloc in the Orange Basin.

Under the deal, Azule will get the right to drill two exploration wells in Block 2914A, with an option to operate petroleum exploration license PEL85 on completion of exploration of the two wells. Production from one of the wells is expected to begin this year.

Set up in 2022 to carry on BP’s and Eni’s exploration business in Angola,  Azule Energy has secured a petroleum exploration licence that covers Block 2914A in Namibia’s offshore Orange Basin. 

Namibia has opened up the Orange Basin, after recent offshore prospecting established an oil find that is among the largest in recent years.

Besides the BP-Eni joint venture, several other oil majors, including France’s Total Energies, Portugal's Galp Energia and Shell, have invested in the Orange Basin oil blocks. 

Galp Energia is reported to have found at least 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent in its field in the Orange Basin.

The Orange Basin is part of the volcanic ridge along the southern South Atlantic coast of Namibia and South Africa.