BP Namibia Energy, a subsidiary of BP Exploration Operating Company, has won the final regulatory approval it needed to take a 60% stake and operatorship in three offshore exploration licenses held by Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas. Namibia's Minister of Industries, Mines and Energy signed off on 1 October 2026, Eco said, the last government consent required under Section 11 of the country's Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act.
The approval completes a process Eco first disclosed on 13 April 2026, when the company and its subsidiaries Azinam Group, Eco Oil & Gas Namibia and Eco Oil & Gas Services agreed to farm out 60% of their participating interest and hand operatorship to BP.
What BP is taking over
The deal covers all three of Eco's Namibian licenses.
| License | Blocks | Prior name |
|---|---|---|
| PEL97 | Block 2012A | Cooper License |
| PEL99 | Blocks 2111B and 2211A | Guy License |
| PEL100 | Blocks 2211B and 2311A | Tamar License |
With ministerial approval secured, Eco and BP are now working through the remaining closing steps. Eco said completion is expected shortly, with a further announcement once the deal closes.
Why Eco is selling down
The farm-out lets the joint venture move into a full upstream exploration program across the three licenses, Eco said, while cutting the company's own funding exposure. Eco keeps a stake in the licenses and plans to use the cash from the sale to fund exploration and appraisal elsewhere in its Atlantic Margin portfolio and for general working capital.
Gil Holzman, Eco's President and CEO, said the approval "brings us towards completing this landmark transaction." He thanked Namibia's president, the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy, the Upstream Petroleum Unit, BP, NAMCOR and Eco's local partners for the process. Holzman also pointed to two other items on Eco's agenda: finishing production-sharing agreement talks in Guyana and completing a previously announced acquisition of JHI.
