By Tracy Tafirenyika and Nishi Felton | 4 October 2026
The Namibian government and French company TotalEnergies remain locked in talks over the country’s first major offshore oil project, amid reported disagreements over the licence period, international arbitration, taxation and the outstanding new petroleum law.
Another key negotiation point reportedly includes discussions over a stabilisation clause, which prevents the country from changing laws that affect the investment deal.
These are allegedly some of the reasons delaying Total’s final investment decision (FID), according to people familiar with the talks.
Total has been in talks with the government for several years since the 2022 discovery of oil at the prospect Venus.
The Namibian has spoken to at least five senior people who are familiar with the negotiations. They declined to be named in order to discuss confidential talks.
Although The Namibian has confirmed several points of negotiation, the sources did not establish how many of these issues have been resolved to date.
Total declined to comment “on such unsubstantiated speculation” and says it remains committed to working constructively with the Namibian authorities.
The Presidency declined to comment on the state of negotiations.
“We wish to allow the discussions to proceed in good faith without pre-empting their outcome.
Once both parties have reached an agreement, the decision will be officially communicated,” Presidency spokesperson Jonas Mbambo said yesterday.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has pushed for the urgent passage of the proposed petroleum (exploration and production) amendment bill, which aims to transfer powers from the industries, mines and energy minister to her office.
The legislation aims to manage the country’s fast-developing upstream petroleum sector.
But as the bill has not been passed by parliament, Total is negotiating under the existing Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, 1991.
“The president seems to be waiting for the petroleum bill that is currently before parliament to hopefully be passed, so that she can be in charge when the FID is issued,” a source familiar with the negotiations tells The Namibian.
The person says the government is concerned that giving Total special treatment could set a precedent, prompting other companies to seek similar concessions.
TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanné told investors on Monday that the company is in “progressing” discussions with the Namibian government.
“We need to protect the project: It has good returns on high [oil] prices. We need to protect it at lower [oil] prices,” he said.
Pouyanné announced that the peak production at the Venus project would be 160 000 barrels of oil per day, an increase from the 150 000 barrels previously announced.
The Namibian understands that Namibian officials are questioning why Total presented Namibian negotiators with a financial model using the lower number and whether the company is playing open cards about its financials.
Pouyanné was last in Namibia on 10 September, when he visited the State House for a meeting that was kept out of the public eye.
Insiders called the visit “just a pit stop”, as he was at the Angolan oil and gas conference the previous day. However, according to a source close to the negotiations, Total has also been frustrated by the Namibian decision-making team.
The source says some negotiators were chosen for their political connections rather than their technical qualifications
One obstacle in the negotiations is Namibia’s petroleum law, which provides for a production licence to be granted for an initial period of up to 25 years, with the possibility of one renewal of up to 10 years.
Even though ‘25+10’ licences are not uncommon globally, usually licences can be renewed more than once.
Sources familiar with the negotiations say Total wants a longer licence period, arguing that the standard legal framework may not provide sufficient time to recover the substantial investment required for the development of the deepwater oilfield and its supporting infrastructure.
The government is weighing how the licence and fiscal terms would affect the revenue Namibia receives from the project.
Extending the length of the licence or allowing renewals would require the approval of parliament.
The issue of international arbitration has also been raised repeatedly. Under international agreements, the two sides need to agree on how disputes will be settled.
Usually, this takes place in so-called neutral spaces, but Namibia has not ratified or joined any of the international bodies commonly used for this purpose.
“Arbitration is a private court so to speak. As a concept it’s good, it moves things faster,” Columbia University professor Jenik Radon tells The Namibian.
He says it makes sense for international companies like Total to be wary of relying entirely on domestic law to resolve issues.
“One of the things that needs to be understood is [Namibia is] not a known entity.
You’re a new entity. Do you have the case precedent? Do you have the judges? If I’m an outside investor, do I really know Namibian law?” he says.
It is unusual for countries to be in the position of not having ratified international arbitration agreements. This provides the country with certain negotiating power, Radon says.
“You have the flexibility now of agreeing to arbitration [on terms that Namibia sets],” he says.
Speaking at the Bank of Namibia symposium last week, Radon also said Namibia must never accept a stabilisation clause.
Such a clause prevents the government from making changes to its laws that will affect Total, which would severely restrict the country’s choices, he said.
The Namibia Petroleum Operators Association (Nampoa) says its members support “internationally credible frameworks for resolving investment disputes”.
“Dispute-resolution arrangements are one of several factors investors consider, alongside the fiscal regime, licence terms, regulatory certainty and project economics,” Nampoa executive director Festus Hangula said yesterday.
He said international arbitration offers a neutral process for resolving cross-border disputes.
Given that petroleum investments cover decades, this can improve confidence between the government and the oil company.
Hangula declined to comment on the specifics of any oil investment deal, but said it is possible for arbitration to become a larger issue when projects move from exploration to development.
Namibia is targeting first oil production in 2030, subject to FID and the necessary approvals.
Newly appointed Anti-Corruption Commission director general Bryan Eiseb yesterday said his leadership will look closely at the oil and gas sector.
“The discovery of oil and gas brought a glimmer of hope; without dampening such hope we must comprehensively consider and include the risk of corruption as we prepare ourselves.
“This sector is highly prone to corruption, as such we will coordinate with the unit in the Presidency responsible for the coordination thereof, that we conduct a comprehensive sectoral risk assessment in order to develop adequate responses and reduce our vulnerabilities to such risk,” he said.
The post Treaty of Venus: Inside talks between Namibia and TotalEnergies appeared first on Investigation Unit.