Windhoek: The Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) cancelled a pre-qualification tender for a new oil and gas supply base at Luderitz just days after launching it and without explanation, its Facebook page showed on Friday.
The sudden cancellation is a blow to government efforts to accelerate development at Luderitz port, the smaller one of only two commercial ports in the Southern African country and an important energy service centre.
An exploration hotspot following a string of offshore discoveries by Shell, TotalEnergies, Galp and Rhino Resources, Namibia has ambitions to deliver first oil by 2030 with Luderitz being designated as the country’s energy hub.
However, regulatory uncertainty, a lack of key infrastructure and an unskilled labour force for the oil and gas sector have worried investors and operators.
Namport launched a pre-qualification tender on Tuesday for a concession to design, build, own, operate and transfer (DBOOT) a new Luderitz Bay oil and gas supply base to support drilling campaigns in the Orange Basin.
“Namport regrets to inform interested parties that the DBOOT concession bid for the Luderitz Bay oil and gas supply base has been cancelled,” said Namport’s official Facebook page.
Namport CEO Andrew Kanime did not answer calls to his phone or respond to messages seeking clarity.
Luderitz port, located to the far south of the vast, arid country, has separate plans to extend its quay wall by at least 300 metres in a bid to accommodate more platform support vessels that service the burgeoning offshore oil and gas sector.
Kanime previously told Reuters that TotalEnergies’ operations are supported from Luderitz port, while Shell and Galp are backed by Walvis Bay to the north of the country.
Berthing capacity at the physically constrained port, where fishing and mining cargoes vie for space, was already close to full capacity, he said last year. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf and Nyasha Nyaungwa; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
