ESIA for Proposed Development of the Offshore Venus Field in Block 2913B, off the Coast of Southern Namibia

Proposed Development of the Offshore Venus Field in Block 2913B, off the Coast of Southern Namibia

TEEPNA and its JV partners currently hold an Exploration Licence for Block 2913B, located in the offshore southern Namibia. Based on the exploration and appraisal results, as well as ongoing development studies, TEEPNA and its JV partners are studying the feasibility to develop the offshore Venus Field to produce oil for commercialisation. The Venus field is located offshore, approximately 320 km south-west of Lüderitz in the Northern portion of Block 2913B, in water depths of around 3 000 m.

The development of the field includes the drilling of up to 40 subsea wells, the installation of equipment on the seabed and the mooring of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessel (FPSO) at the Offshore Venus field. The produced oil will be transferred from FPSO to tankers for transport to buyers. Supply vessels and aircrafts will serve the offshore units from existing onshore facilities.

The Joint Venture is now applying for an Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) to develop the Venus field, within Block 2913B, and produce crude light oil. If an ECC is granted, the construction, drilling and installation will take approximately 5 years to complete, and then the production will start and last for approximately 20 years+.

The proposed project triggers a number of listed activities in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations 2012, and as such requires an ECC before such activities can commence. SLR Environmental Consulting (Namibia) (Pty) Ltd (SLR) was appointed as the independent Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) to manage the ECC application and to undertake a Scoping and EIA process for the proposed development and production activities (hereafter collectively referred to as “Environmental and Social Impact Assessment” or “ESIA” process).

Status

Notice is hereby given in terms of the Environmental Management Act (No. 7 of 2007) and Regulation 21 of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations of an Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) application to develop the offshore Venus Field discovered and appraised since 2022 in Block 2913B.

An application for an ECC was submitted to the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy (MIME), as the Competent Authority, on 25 Febuary 2025. The ECC application was also registered on Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism’s (MEFT) online application portal (MEFT Ref: APP-005431).

The Final ESIA Report has been submitted to MEFT and MIME for consideration and decision-making. A copy of the report as submitted can be downloaded below.

Should you have any queries in this regard please do not hesitate to contact SLR and/or Urban Dynamics at the above contact details.