Lisbon, Oct. 28, 2024 (Lusa) - Galp's chief executive officer (CEO) said on Monday that the oil company should maintain its current 80% stake in the oil exploration project in Namibia until the end of 2025, when it will complete drilling the next two wells.

"We have the financial capacity and so we can avoid rushing into a transaction. The plan is to continue with our current 80%, reducing the risk we have in hand as much as possible," said Filipe Silva during a conference call with analysts on the oil company's results for the first nine months of the year.

He said that Galp has been "negotiating" with potential partners and has a "shortlist" of very credible players who are interested in Namibia.

However, he emphasised: "The right time to make a partnership will certainly not be before we finish at least the next two of the four-well campaign we have planned. So we will probably wait until the end of 2025, also to learn from what other players around us will find."

This is because, according to Filipe Silva, some of the potential partners "are also drilling in the region themselves".

"These are very exciting times, with lots of information, and this is not yet the time to commit to anyone," he said.

PD/ADB // ADB.

Lusa