Lisbon, Oct. 21, 2025 (Lusa) - Galp expects to find a partner by the end of the year with the "appetite" to develop the oil exploration project in Namibia, an asset with high potential but which requires a large investment.
"We are looking for a highly robust partner from the point of view of execution capacity, with a reputation and with the appetite to accelerate the development of the project," said Galp's executive director, Nuno Bastos, responsible for the upstream area, production and exploration of oil and natural gas, during a meeting with journalists.
The aim, he added, is to "reach first oil as quickly as possible" in the project, whose investment could reach between €10 billion and €12 billion. Nuno Bastos stressed that "every month we sit around waiting for others to do their analyses is time wasted", adding that they are available to open up to half of their capital in the project to partners.
Galp holds 80% of block PEL 83, with 10% belonging to the Namibian state oil company Namcor and 10% to a local private partner. The block, with an area of 10,000 square kilometres - "equivalent to 11% of the national territory" - has an estimated potential of 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to company data.
"We're in the exploration and appraisal phase and we won't be producing until 2030," said the manager, who pointed out that developing oil projects "is a long-term process, with huge risks and investments".
Nuno Bastos emphasised that Galp is "proud" to have advanced to this stage on its own, before going public with a new partner. "After drilling and showing the value of the asset, we entered a different league - today we have a much stronger position to negotiate," he said.
Regarding the energy transition, the director considered that "there is growing consensus that it will take longer than expected". "We've had a war in Europe and strong security of supply issues. It has become clear that sustainability at all costs is not possible," he said.
For Nuno Bastos, the world now lives "in a logic of energy additivity, not subtraction - all energy sources are going to be critical".
He reiterated that Galp will continue to invest in hydrogen, biofuels and renewable energies, financing these projects with the cash flow generated by the upstream. "It is this cash generation that allows us to reinvest in decarbonisation and dividend payments," he said.
Even so, he regretted that public support in Portugal is limited compared to Spain. "In hydrogen, we had support of €9 million and €11 million for HVO [biofuel]. In Spain, identical projects have received between €150 and €165 million," he emphasised.
Nuno Bastos concluded by arguing that Galp "has the capital, expertise and ambition to continue to grow in the upstream and sustain the energy transition over the next few years".
SCR/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
