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THE Ministry of Mines and Energy says it will take time for Namibia to join the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

This comes after French oil company TotalEnergies and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (Shell) recently discovered oil offshore the Namibian coast.

Ministry’s spokesperson Andreas Simon said it may take Namibia close to seven years to join the international oil regulating body.

“It will take us some time because we are still at the preliminary stage. But what we can say is that there is oil found, especially along the Orange River,” Simon said.

He said assessments of the oil discoveries are still being done and the results are still pending.

“Opec is for countries that export oil. We still do not export oil. We first need to start producing before we are part of Opec. If things go well, we will start producing in the next five to seven years,” he said.

The oil discovery by TotalEnergies and Shell Plc indicates the discovery of light oil. Appraisal programmes are being conducted to determine how viable and valuable the oil is in terms of the grade, as well as whether it conforms to market standards and the price it can be sold for.

“They are also looking at whether there is an international market out there and how big these deposits are, and if we are to start extracting it, how many years could we pump this crude oil,” he said.

Simon said if the appraisals are approved and determined to be commercially viable, then the option of becoming part of Opec will be the step to consider.

“It will not make sense that you are an oil exporting country and you are not part of Opec. If you are not part of this body, you will always be on the receiving end,” he said.

Namibia will need to meet all the requirements before becoming part of Opec, he said.

“It is of benefit to be part of Opec because you will always have an opportunity to throw your products in the market,” said Simon, adding that the country stands to make more money as a member of Opec.

“We will be part of the decision makers, we will not be on the receiving end. If Namibia starts producing oil, we will be able to fill the gap of depending on other countries for oil,” he said.

Namibia will also be able to supply oil to countries that depend on Russia, he said.

If Namibia joined other African countries already producing oil, it would benefit the country and Africa as a whole, Simon said.

Earlier this year, The Namibian reported that Shell Plc reportedly made a massive oil discovery off the coast of Namibia worth an estimated N$334 billion. The discovery was reportedly made on the Petroleum Exploration Licence 39 (PEL 39), which is owned by Shell (45%) and Qatar Petroleum (45%), with the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) owning the remaining 10%.