Navitas Petroleum Brings Atlantic Margin Ambitions to African Energy Week 2026

International independent oil and gas company Navitas Petroleum has joined African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 as a Bronze Partner, underscoring its growing interest in Africa’s emerging offshore oil and gas opportunities. The company’s African portfolio is centered on the Atlantic Margin, with its latest investment in South Africa’s Orange Basin adding a new operated exploration position to a portfolio spanning established production and development assets in North America and the Falkland Islands.

Navitas’ expansion into Africa accelerated in December 2025, when it entered a strategic partnership with Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas covering exploration opportunities in South Africa, Guyana and potential future assets. Navitas initially paid $2 million for exclusive options over South Africa’s Block 1 CBK and Guyana’s Orinduik Block. The agreement also provided for potential participation in Eco’s wider African portfolio, including Petroleum Exploration Licences 97, 99 and 100 offshore Namibia and Block 3B/4B offshore South Africa.

The partnership moved into a more substantial phase in May 2026, when Navitas exercised its option to farm into Block 1 CBK, located in the Orange Basin offshore South Africa. Under the agreement, Navitas will acquire a 37.5% working interest and operatorship, subject to regulatory approvals, in exchange for a $4 million payment to Eco Atlantic. Navitas will also carry Eco’s share of the exploration work program, with the carry capped at $7.5 million.

The scale of the opportunity has since become clearer. In August 2026, Navitas and Eco announced an updated resource assessment for Block 1 CBK estimating more than 3.6 billion barrels of unrisked prospective oil resources and approximately 4.5 trillion cubic feet of prospective gas resources based on existing seismic data. The partners are continuing to evaluate the block and its development potential.

The investment gives Navitas exposure to one of Africa’s most closely watched frontier basins, alongside its broader Atlantic strategy. Through the 2025 framework, the company secured potential access to offshore Namibia’s PEL 97, PEL 99 and PEL 100, while its wider portfolio includes the Sea Lion project in the Falkland Islands and producing and development assets in the U.S. Gulf of America. In December 2025, Navitas and Rockhopper sanctioned Phase 1 of Sea Lion, targeting first oil in 2028.

“This partnership is a strong vote of confidence in South Africa’s upstream potential. Eco Atlantic has been a committed explorer for more than a decade, and Navitas brings technical excellence and financial capacity that can accelerate drilling and unlock long-awaited exploration activity,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “This is exactly the type of collaboration Africa needs – bold, well-funded and focused on execution.”

At AEW 2026, Navitas will join governments, national oil companies, investors, financiers and energy companies in Cape Town from October 12–16 to discuss exploration, investment and the development of Africa’s hydrocarbons resources. Its participation comes at a time when frontier basins from South Africa’s Orange Basin to Namibia are attracting renewed international capital, with investors looking to convert promising geology into commercially viable projects.