BW Energy, an affiliate of the BW Group, says its mission in Namibia aligns with the government's resolve to promote value addition to resources locally.
The company has filed environmental documents to secure approval to drill appraisal wells on its Kudu Gas Field offshore.
NBC News spoke to the Chair of BW Energy, Andreas Sohmen-Pao, following his meeting with President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at State House today.
"So we had very fruitful discussions with Her Excellency about the developments, particularly the oil and gas field, industry conditions, education and developing local content. We very much support the idea that we need to be working with the local communities and be increasing the economic activity in terms of jobs and skills for Namibia, and we think this is the right area to focus on, and we are also conscious that we need to do it as quickly as possible because we would like these developments to come on stream soon. It does take time to do these very big projects, but we want it to happen as soon as possible."
The Presidency says the values of BW Energy, including leveraging in-house technical, operational, and basin expertise, converse with Namibia's set objectives in the 6th National Development Plan.
Energy security remains at the core of these conversations, says Press Secretary Jonas Mbambo, to help offset other industries within the mining sector.
"The President has mentioned that the diamond industry unfortunately is not doing as well as it used to do, it is now being saturated by synthetic diamonds. We now have to look outside of the diamond industry and see what is next for us, and I think it has been a blessing in disguise now that we have discovered fossil fuels in the form of oil and gas, and it is now up to us to cooperate with individuals with like-mindedness in terms of values and principles to chart the way forward because with energy security, all other things fall in place; you can have all other industries running."
BW Energy also has oil and gas exploration and production operations in Gabon and Brazil, with more than 80 years of industry leadership.