TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy have signed an agreement to buy a stake in a license to acquire participating interests in Block 3B/4B, offshore South Africa, from Africa Oil South Africa, Azinam (a wholly owned subsidiary of Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas), and Ricocure.

Following completion of the transaction, TotalEnergies will hold a 33% stake, while QatarEnergy will hold 24%. The remaining stake will be held by Africa Oil with 17%, Ricocure with 19.75%, and Azinam with 6.25%.

Located within the prolific orange basin, 200 km off the western coast of South Africa, Block 3B/4B covers an area of 17,581 km2. Block 3B/4B is adjacent to the DWOB license operated by TotalEnergies (50%) alongside QatarEnergy (30%) and Sezigyn (20%).

“Following the Venus success in Namibia, TotalEnergies is continuing to progress its exploration effort in the Orange Basin,” said Kevin McLachlan, Senior Vice President Exploration of TotalEnergies.

Namibia has become a global exploration hotspot after deep water discoveries by Shell, TotalEnergies, and Galp in recent years.

The Orange Basin is largely unexplored, with dozens of legacy wells drilled in shallow shelf waters along South Africa’s coastline, according to Reuters.

“South Africa’s side of the Orange Basin resembles that of Namibia; it is highly prospective, with at least two prospects in the northern region of the basin potentially containing millions of barrels of oil and associated gas,” said Jonathan Salomo, the lead geologist for the West Coast at the Petroleum Agency of South Africa.