Bloomberg reported that Namibia is preparing changes to the Petroleum Act that would shift parts of the country’s petroleum oversight to the presidency as it moves closer to potential oil production. The proposal was presented late Tuesday in Parliament by Frans Kapofi, who serves as Defense and Veterans Affairs Minister and is also acting as Minister of Industries, Mines and Energy.

According to Bloomberg, the draft amendment would transfer certain responsibilities from the energy minister to the president and to the director-general overseeing the upstream petroleum unit situated in the presidency. Functions currently carried out by the commissioner for petroleum affairs would be reassigned to a newly created deputy director-general post within the same upstream structure.

Bloomberg noted that the initiative comes while TotalEnergies SE is engaged in negotiations with Namibia on developing an offshore discovery. That find, together with a series of discoveries by Shell Plc and Galp Energia SGPS SA, has turned Namibia into an exploration hot spot. President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah began bringing oil and gas matters more directly under her control earlier this year.

Graham Hopwood, special adviser at Horizon Engage, told Bloomberg that the proposal aims to elevate the upstream unit’s position and define its legal foundation. “They had to clarify that,” he said.

Source: Bloomberg (12 November 2025)