*

Namibia hopes for joint plan to monetize gas

*

TotalEnergies said it needs to reinject gas into oil field

*

Total to submit development plan in June or July -Namibia

says

*

Namibia expects first oil in 2029-2030

(Recasts, adds comments from TotalEnergies executive and

Namibia petroleum commissioner)

By America Hernandez

PARIS, May 13 (Reuters) - Namibia expects a final

investment decision (FID) by TotalEnergies on its

Venus discovery by late next year, a senior government official

said on Tuesday, even as the company pushes for incentives to

lower production costs.

The French oil major has joined peers like Shell

and Galp in developing offshore blocks in the southern African

country, which has no hydrocarbon production and is eager for

new revenue sources.

However, Shell wrote down its Namibia oil discoveries

earlier this year as uncommercial due to a high amount of gas in

the fields, dampening initial enthusiasm that the country could

become a major producer.

TotalEnergies, which has said it can handle Namibia's

geological challenges, is on track for an FID on its Venus

discovery in the fourth quarter of 2026, Maggy Shino, petroleum

commissioner at Namibia's Ministry of Mines and Energy, told a

conference in Paris.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne has said that an FID will

depend on whether production costs can be kept under $20 per

barrel.

The company is currently in talks with Namibia to shoulder a

higher burden of the costs, but getting costs under $20 a barrel

will be "challenging", Mike Sangster, Total's senior vice

president for Africa, told the conference.

Norway's BWEnergy plans to develop the country's

smaller Kudu gas field. Shino told the conference she expected

those plans to be finalised in June, with an FID in late 2026

too.

COMPLEX ISSUE

Namibia is pushing oil majors exploring its waters to

collaborate on a common plan to collect and monetize the natural

gas in its oil fields, using joint infrastructure to pipe the

gas to an onshore processing plant and use some for regional

electricity.

Sangster said selling gas wasn't in TotalEnergies' plans for

Venus, and that the company already exports liquefied natural

gas from projects in Angola and Nigeria.

"In the case of Namibia, the gas is very remote... under

3,000 metres of water, which is a world record, and 300

kilometres (186 miles) from the coastline... to monetize the gas

is super complex," he said.

Gas will need to be re-injected as part of the development

to produce the oil, Sangster added.

Shino said it was too soon to comment on TotalEnergies'

ruling out participating in a common gas plan.

"We still need to discuss all these details, and to see

Total's field development plan in June or July," she told

Reuters on the conference sidelines.

TotalEnergies owns a 45.25% interest in offshore block 2913B

containing the Venus discovery, alongside QatarEnergy (35.25%),

Africa Oil's ( AOIFF ) Impact Oil and Gas (9.5%) and Namibia's state-owned

NAMCOR (10%).

BWEnergy holds a 95% interest in the Kudu prospect, with

NAMCOR holding the remaining 5%.