Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas has reported significant progress across its exploration portfolio for the fiscal year ended March 31, with new partnerships in Namibia and South Africa reshaping the risk profile of a company that has long staked its position on frontier basins along the Atlantic margin. The period saw agreements with bp and Navitas Petroleum that will see both companies fund substantial portions of Eco's exploration commitments, while Guyana and the Falklands offer further avenues for expansion.

The most consequential of these arrangements came in April, when Eco agreed to farm down a 60% participating interest in three offshore Namibia licenses, PEL 97, PEL 99 and PEL 100, to bp Namibia Energy. Once the transaction completes, Eco will hold a 25% working interest in the acreage, with bp assuming responsibility for funding the company's share of the current exploration phase. That work includes seismic reprocessing on PEL 97 and a 3D seismic survey covering at least 3,000 square kilometres across PEL 99 and PEL 100. For a company of Eco's size, securing a major partner to underwrite this stage of exploration removes a considerable funding burden while preserving exposure to the acreage.

A similar dynamic is playing out in South Africa. Eco is progressing a farm-down agreement that would transfer a 37.5% working interest and operatorship of Block 1 CBK to Navitas Petroleum, pending regulatory approval. Under the terms, Navitas will fund Eco's share of the block's exploration programme, mirroring the structure of the Namibian deal in transferring both cost and operational responsibility to a partner with deeper capital resources.

Elsewhere in South Africa, Eco continues to await final environmental approvals before drilling on Block 3B/4B. The company said it remains fully carried through the first two exploration wells on the block and expects to receive a further $11.5 million from joint venture partners once the first well is permitted and spudded. The timeline for that milestone depends on regulatory clearance rather than any decision within Eco's control, underlining how much of the company's near-term progress hinges on approvals from external authorities.

In Guyana, Eco and Navitas are continuing discussions with the Ministry of Natural Resources over a new license for the Orinduik Block, where the partners intend to pursue further appraisal and exploration work. Eco has said it expects the licensing process to conclude in the third quarter of 2026, though as with the South African approvals, the outcome rests with government decision-making rather than the company itself.

The company is also widening its footprint in the South Atlantic through a planned acquisition of JHI Associates, which would increase its interest in the PL001 license in the North Falkland Basin. The license sits adjacent to the Sea Lion development, which is operated by Navitas, extending a partnership that already spans South Africa and Guyana.

Gil Holzman, Eco's president and chief executive, described the twelve-month period as transformational for the company. He pointed to the bp farm-down in Namibia and the broader partnership with Navitas as developments that reduce risk across the exploration portfolio while keeping Eco exposed to several frontier basins at once.

Taken together, the year's developments suggest a company moving away from shouldering exploration costs alone and towards a model built on partnerships with larger, better capitalised operators. Whether that approach delivers commercial discoveries will depend on drilling results still to come, but the funding structure now in place across Namibia, South Africa and potentially Guyana gives Eco considerably more room to pursue that exploration without bearing the full financial exposure itself.