Namibia's Minister of Industries, Mines and Energy has approved Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas's transfer of a 60% interest in three offshore exploration licences to bp, satisfying the final governmental condition for a deal that hands the major operatorship across the Walvis Basin and puts $2.7m in cash into Eco's accounts.

The consent, granted under Section 11 of Namibia's Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, covers:

• Block 2012A (PEL97, the Cooper Licence)
• Blocks 2111B and 2211A (PEL99, the Guy Licence)
• Blocks 2211B and 2311A (PEL100, the Tamar Licence)

Eco and bp are now working through the remaining closing deliverables and expect near-term completion of the transaction, which stems from a farmout agreement signed in April 2026. Once closed, BP Namibia Energy, a wholly owned bp subsidiary, becomes operator of all three blocks. Eco retains a 25% participating interest across the licences.

Who pays for the exploration?

The funding structure does the heavy lifting for Eco. bp will carry the entire cost of Eco's retained 25% stake through the current exploration phase, and will also fund Eco's proportionate share of the interests held by state oil company NAMCOR (10%) and local partners (5%).

That carry strips out Eco's near-term funding obligations on the Namibian blocks while preserving its exposure to any discovery. Eco said it plans to direct the $2.7m cash proceeds toward exploration and appraisal work across its wider Atlantic Margin portfolio and general working capital.

The company also disclosed that the transaction involves no finder's fees and that no insiders hold a financial interest in the deal.

What does the work programme require?

The Namibian Government has endorsed an exploration work programme for the blocks that pairs reprocessing with new acquisition:

• Seismic reprocessing on PEL97 (Cooper)
• Acquisition of at least 3,000 km² of fresh 3D seismic over PEL99 (Guy) and PEL100 (Tamar)

No drilling commitment appears at this stage; the programme as sanctioned is seismic-phase work, keeping the three licences in appraisal-of-basin territory rather than the drilling queue. The Walvis Basin sits north of the Orange Basin, where Namibia's recent drilling campaigns have concentrated, and the bp-led partnership is still building the subsurface picture there.

Eco president and CEO Gil Holzman framed the ministerial approval as the decisive step toward closing. "Securing final regulatory approval for the farm-down of our Namibian portfolio to bp is a significant milestone for Eco and brings us towards completing this landmark transaction," he said.

Holzman also credited the Namibian administration for the pace of the process. "We are grateful to Her Excellency the President of the Republic of Namibia and the Namibian authorities, particularly the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy and the Upstream Petroleum Unit, for their efficient, professional and collaborative approach, which enabled the approval process to progress within the anticipated time frame," he said.

What happens if bp decides to drill?

The deal embeds a second-stage mechanism aimed squarely at a drilling decision. If bp and its partners elect to enter the Second Renewal Period in 2028 and commit to drilling, Eco can exercise a put option on each licence to transfer a further 10% interest to bp.

In exchange, bp would fully carry Eco's remaining 15% participating interest, capped at $21m net to Eco per well on each licence. Across the three blocks, the maximum aggregate carry would reach $63m — the effective ceiling on Eco's downside exposure if the partnership advances to the drilling phase.

For bp, the arrangement builds a operated position in a frontier basin at seismic-stage cost, with the option to scale exposure at a 2028 decision point. For Eco, it converts an exploration funding burden into a carried position with staged monetisation options. For NAMCOR, the carried structure extends the state's 10% participation without direct exploration spend at this phase.

The watch item

Completion of the closing deliverables is the near-term marker; the transaction should formally close in the coming weeks. The longer-dated item is the 2028 Second Renewal Period decision, when bp either commits capital to drilling — triggering Eco's put option mechanics and the $63m carry ceiling — or steps back from the basin. In between, watch for contracting news on the 3,000 km² 3D seismic survey over PEL99 and PEL100, the first tangible sign of bp's operated activity in the Walvis Basin.