Most conversations about Namibia's oil discoveries start offshore, with reservoirs, barrels and investment decisions, but the one I joined at RMB's Namibia 2035 event kept coming back to what needs to be built on land.
I joined Eduardo Rodriguez, Country Chair at Shell, and Elsie Kambala, Country Manager at SLB, on a panel moderated by Angelique Peake, Group Head of Oil & Gas Strategy at RMB, and although we set out to discuss what oil and gas needs, we kept returning to how ports, bases, power and skills could help Namibian businesses compete regionally and globally.
A frontier approaching its defining decision
Since TotalEnergies discovered oil at Venus in 2022, Namibia has become one of the world's most closely watched energy frontiers. For an economy long anchored by mining, agriculture and tourism, the scale is striking, as the cost of building out Venus alone already equals Namibia's entire GDP.
TotalEnergies says Venus is technically ready, with a concept of around 150,000 barrels per day at peak, but the final investment decision still awaits agreement on fiscal terms, with first oil targeted for 2030.
Shell's Merlin-1X discovery in June and Equinor's entry into the basin in August of this year show that interest is still growing.
Infrastructure as a platform for the whole economy
With Venus around 290 kilometres offshore, turning resources into production depends on what is built onshore, and operators are already calling for new infrastructure and supply bases ahead of investment decisions.
That infrastructure will be built at scale and last for decades, so the real opportunity is to make it work harder than a single project. In our experience, a well-planned port, base or logistics corridor can go on supporting mining, renewables, green hydrogen and regional trade long after the first barrel.
For Namibian businesses, this is what decides whether they can compete, because a local fabricator, haulier or service company with reliable port access, efficient logistics, recognised safety standards and skilled people can win work from international operators at home and then bid for contracts across the region.
What other frontier locations tell us
Across ASCO we have supported several frontier markets from discovery to production, and early infrastructure decisions always have a lasting effect on cost, safety and local participation.
In Senegal, we turned a general cargo facility in the Port of Dakar into a 25,000 sqm supply base for Sangomar, the country's first offshore oil project, delivering it to international standards within six months for a consortium of national businesses.
In Suriname, our agreement with Kuldipsingh Port to support offshore Block 58 was built around working with local businesses and creating opportunities for local people.
Getting a supply base right
Having designed and run supply bases from Senegal to Norway, we have seen new bases succeed or struggle on early decisions about location, quayside length, water depth and laydown capacity, which need to match the peak of drilling and installation rather than the first campaign.
Layout, traffic flows, safety procedures and the digital systems that give operators visibility of every item should be designed in from day one, as our digitalisation work at Tananger in Norway has shown, alongside training that prepares local people to run the base.
What every major project needs to consider
The harder questions are less about what Namibia builds and more about how it builds, and they apply to any region preparing for major projects.
The first consideration is who infrastructure is really for, because assets planned around one development can sit underused after the construction peak, while those planned for other operators and industries earn their place for decades.
The second is timing, because ports, bases and skills take longer to develop than most project schedules allow, and building in a hurry costs more and leaves less behind.
The third is what we measure, because the real test of local content is whether Namibian companies are winning work abroad ten years from now on experience gained at home.
The last is planning for life after the peak, when construction activity gives way to the steadier rhythm of production.
What gave me real optimism was that the conversation in the room was already less about the next few years of activity and more about what Namibia wants to have in place when the rigs eventually move on.