Angola’s oil and gas sector is cooking, with two major oil discoveries announced in the past few weeks.
The new oil discovery at the Vicango Este-01 exploration well in Block 15 – the 20th discovery in that block – was announced by ExxonMobil in partnership with Angola’s National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG), reports CNBC Africa.
Block 15 has produced 29 billion barrels of oil in 30 years, and it has been one of the Southern African country’s most significant deepwater developments, according to ExxonMobil Angola CEO Brian Unietis. He added that discoveries such as Vicango Este-01 ‘help increase the value of existing infrastructure while supporting future production opportunities’.
The well encountered about 25metres of high-quality hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone with a porosity of 22%.
Angola is implementing measures to drive development in the offshore oil and sector, which has seen output from its mature oil fields decline over the years.
The Africa Energy Chamber says the establishment of the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) in 2019 has ‘streamlined licensing, strengthened transparency and enabled Sonangol [the state-owned oil and gas company] to operate as a commercial company while ANPG assumed responsibility for concession management’.
The Vicango Este-01 discovery comes as France’s TotalEnergies confirmed a 6 000 barrels-per-day discovery in Angola’s Block 17. First oil at Acacia-5 is expected imminently, according to a report in Engineering News.
The French oil major also signed deals to take a 40% share of two more blocks in the region (17/25 and 32/21).
