Luanda - The National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) signed this Wednesday two production sharing contracts for Blocks 16/21 and 31/21, with the multinationals TotalEnergies, Azule and Equinor, an act that marks more investment in the oil sector in Angola.
These are two oil blocks located in ultra-deep waters in the Lower Congo Basin, with a potential considered “good”, according to the ANPG's president of the Board of Directors, Paulino Jerónimo.
The contracts result from the 2021/2022 limited offshore bidding round.
For Block 16/21, the ANPG's president of the Board of Directors, Paulino Jerónimo, and the general director of TotalEnergies, Martin Deffontaines, signed the production sharing contract, an act witnessed by the sector’s incumbent minister, Diamantino Azevedo, among others representatives.
With the aim of increasing production above 250 barrels/day of oil, the chairman of the Azule Executive Board, Adriano Mongini, and the Equinor representative, Ane Aubert, signed the contract for Block 31/21 (in full production), field in which Azule is the operator with a 50% stake.
Meanwhile, Block 16/21 is in the process of developing a discovery made in this same field, which is close to Block 17 (the one that produces the most), operated by TotalEnergies.
Thus, the oil companies are now starting work, and in these contracts, according to Paulino Jerónimo, in the first phase of exploration, investments of more than seven million dollars are estimated for drilling wells and seismic work.
In the event of an oil discovery, which is plausibe, investments will be much higher, potentially reaching around one billion US dollars.
“Now it remains to be done. It’s one thing to do the studies and another thing is the real situation of drilling a well and only after that will we know if there are discoveries or not”, explained Paulino Jerónimo, expressing good expectations of finding black gold, which will mitigate the decline in production.
Speaking to the press, on the sidelines of the event, he said that the hope is, in the coming years, to have more wells in the two concessions and, in case of discovery, to be developed to replace the reserves produced.
Now, it is up to operators to carry out the studies found on paper, drilling wells and seismic work until more oil is discovered. After the first exploration period, which is five years, operators will have the right for two additional years to continue the process.
Azule's first contract
According to Azule's CEO, this was the first contract signed by the company since the creation of AzuleEnergy, a year ago, combining the businesses of ENI and PB Angola.
The person responsible reiterated that the signed contract provides for an increase in production, as part of growing the company's business, already predicting other agreements.
According to the person in charge, the next step is already in sight, namely the signing of other poplin agreements, such as those for Block 47 and 48, as well as contracts referring to Blocks 18/15.
Training of national staff and social responsibilities are among other commitments on the oil company's agenda.
Oil production in Angola remains at 1.1 million barrels of oil per day. HUH/CF/jmc
