Luanda - The signing of Risk Service Contracts (RSCs) contributes to increasing oil production in the country, as well as boosting revenue for the state, said Wednesday in Luanda the secretary of State for Mineral Resources, José Barroso.
Speaking during the signing of three Risk Service Contracts for offshore blocks 18/15, 46 and 47, located in the Lower Congo Basin, he explained that these agreements will also help to reverse the current production situation, by increasing geological knowledge of the fields where these oil blocks are located.
On the other hand, the secretary of State recognised that the Angolan oil sector has faced enormous internal and external challenges, which have had a negative impact on production and, consequently, on the collection of financial revenue for the state coffer.
In order to change the decline in oil production in the country, the secretary of State for Mineral Resources pointed to the need to continually improve the business environment in the Angolan oil industry, so that all companies or potential investors can develop their activities in a sustainable way in Angola.
José Barroso said that the Angolan government remains committed to implementing measures that will provide a favourable business environment, the benefits of which should provide "greater comfort for investors and raise more revenue for the state, with a view to improving the living conditions of the population".
The three contracts which aims to foster the development of oil exploration activities in the Congo basin were signed Wednesday in the Province of Luanda by the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) and Azule Energy, Equinor energy company and Angola´s oil company Sonangol Research and Production, S.A. ("Sonangol P&P").
These are agreements for the concession of offshore blocks 18/15, 46 and 47, which cover an area of approximately 8,700 square kilometres in the deep and ultra-deep waters off the Angolan coast.
Regarding the signing of the agreement, the CEO of Azule Energy, Adriano Mongini, said that the Blocks 46 and 47 have never been explored before and represent a new frontier exploration area that could be a accelerator for the development of the energetic sector, adding that his company continues its mission as a strategic partner and to be the largest oil and gas producer in Angola.
With the agreements signed, Azule Energy will operate the three blocks, with a 40% stake in fields 46 and 47, and 80% in 18/15, while Sonangol Research and Production holds a 20% stake in each block and Equinor owns 40% of the shares in blocks 46 and 47.
Following the execution of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for Block 31/21 last August, this is the second licence award for exploration blocks involving Azule Energy since the creation of the joint venture by oil companies British Petroleum Company (BP) and Italian multinational energy company (ENI) set in August 2022.
In this regard, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ANPG, Paulino Jerónimo, said that the signing of these contracts represents another achievement for the sector, which will contribute to the materialisation of the National Concessionaire's strategy, centred on the continuous search for increased production.
In addition, the manager of the National Concessionaire said that this act was the result of extensive consultation with investors, which focused on making fiscal and contractual terms more flexible in view of the complexity of these blocks, adding that it is understood that the success of the oil industry will essentially depend on an open dialogue with investors, especially in the large blocks.
The signing of the Risk Service Contracts (RSC) is the result of the publication in the Official Gazette of the Decrees 243/23, 244/23 and 245/23 of 20 November, which approve these agreements and authorise the change of operators in the concession areas of blocks 18/15, 46 and 47, whose concessions had been awarded directly to the National Concessionaire by Presidential Decrees 5/16, 56/19 and 57/19.
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