October 22, 2025 [Reuters]- Portugal’s Galp is in advanced talks with several oil majors to sell a 40% stake in its promising offshore Mopane field in Namibia and expects to choose a partner by the end of the year, Executive Board Member Nuno Bastos said on Tuesday.

The Mopane field has estimated reserves of at least 10 billion barrels and Galp is seeking to sell half of its 80% stake to a company that would become its operator.

“The interest is huge”, Bastos said, adding that Galp wanted “a partner that accelerates the development of Mopane as fast as possible … to get the first oil”.

LOOKING FOR OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AS WELL

“It’s critical to understand who is the best partner. There are talks with several major potential partners in Namibia, they are certainly advanced and we expect to have a partner by the end of the year,” he told reporters, without naming any of the companies involved.

The first oil from Mopane is not expected before 2031 or 2032, he said, and in the meantime Galp is also looking for new opportunities, particularly in Brazil, and Sao Tome and Principe.

Galp’s oil and gas production is concentrated in Brazil and it expects to produce on average 105,000-110,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day there in 2025 through a 70%-30% joint venture with China’s Sinopec, which has stakes in several projects.

The JV owns 20% of the Bacalhau field in the Santos Basin, which has recoverable reserves exceeding one billion barrels.

Bacalhau last week began its first oil production through a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel with a capacity to pump up to 220,000 barrels per day. Bastos said Bacalhau would add 400 million euros ($466 million) of annual cash flow to Galp, “sustaining it over the next 15 to 20 years”.