French-Qatari giants to drill ‘promising’ deepwater prospect off Congo

September 1, 2025, by Dragana Nikše

French energy giant TotalEnergies and two state-owned partners, QatarEnergy and Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (SNPC), have secured an exploration permit offshore Congo.

Nzombo exploration permit location; Source: TotalEnergies

The Nzombo exploration permit was awarded to TotalEnergies as operator and 50% interest holder, together with its partners QatarEnergy (35%) and SNPC (15%). The license is situated close to the Moho production facilities operated by TotalEnergies’ Congolese subsidiary.

Covering approximately 1,000 square kilometers, the permit is located around 100 kilometers off the coast of Pointe-Noire, in water depths of over 1,000 meters. According to TotalEnergies, the work program under the license includes the drilling of one exploration well, targeted by the year’s end.

“This award of a promising Exploration permit, with the material Nzombo prospect, reflects our continued strategy of expanding our Exploration portfolio with high impact prospects, which can be developed leveraging our existing facilities, and confirms our longstanding partnership with the Republic of the Congo,” said Kevin McLachlan, Senior Vice-President Exploration at TotalEnergies.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, expressed his satisfaction with being awarded what he says is a promising offshore block.

In addition to exploration efforts, TotalEnergies has been making strides in carbon capture and storage-related developments. Last week saw the injection and storage of the first CO2 volumes at Northern Lights, said to be the world’s first third-party CO2 transport and storage facility.

Meanwhile, QatarEnergy has been busy boosting its fleet of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers as part of its 128-vessel fleet expansion program. The Qatari giant welcomed several additions, most recently Fat’h Wadi Al Sail and Al Khair, from Knutsen and China LNG Shipping (International), respectively.