Luanda - The oil sector began in 2024, to show signs of being reborn from the decline recorded in recent years, with a production of more than 344 million barrels of oil in 10 months.
By Quinito Bumba, ANGOP journalist
This performance represented a significant increase of over 11,276 million barrels compared to 2023 levels.
The real production is the result of the sum of quantities from January to November, with the exception of the month of October, the result of which is not included in the statistics of the National Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG), which publishes the results of petroleum activity in Angola on its website.
The average production of “black gold” this year was 1,134 million barrels per day, registering an increase of almost 7% in relation to the target set in the General State Budget (OGE) 2024, which predicted 1,060 million barrels daily.
According to ANPG, a body supervised by the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas (MIREMPET), the most productive month of the current year was July, which registered around 36,608 million, in an average production of about 1,180 million barrels daily, while April had lower production (1,073,557).
These numbers surpass the performance of oil activity in 2022 and 2023, for example, whose average daily production is between 900,000 and 1,100 million barrels per day.
In addition, data from 2024 shows that the measures outlined by the Government to stabilize crude oil production are having the desired effects, despite still falling short of the results of 2015, when Angola reached the peak of its production, with 1.8 million barrels per day.
According to the Ministry, the current increase in production was driven by the entry into operation of new wells in blocks 0, 15, 15/06 and 17, in addition to the holding of a series of disciplines in several concessions.
It is also highlighted the approval and publication of the legal and tax regime regulating incremental production, through Presidential Legislative Decree no. 8/24 of 20 November, which aims to produce additional volumes above the production base agreed between ANPG and the operators.
As part of the implementation of the Hydrocarbon Exploration Strategy 2020-2025, the investigation of the first research well in Block 30, in the Namibe Basin, was carried out and 2D and 4D seismic acquisition campaigns were carried out in several blocks, in addition to accessibility and demining in the Etosha-Okavango Basin.
As part of the implementation of the Petroleum Concession Allocation Strategy 2019-2025, during the current year six oil blocks were awarded, which makes 35 blocks awarded to date.
Regarding to the fostering of the production and use of biofuels for the diversification of the national energy matrix, a proposal for a biofuels strategy for Angola was drawn up, which is in the final phase for the inclusion of contributions received from operators (stakesholders), after public consultation on October 25th.
According to the minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas of Angola, Diamantino de Azevedo, these results is a result from legal, fiscal and technical regulatory reforms implemented by the Angolan government in 2017, with emphasis on the emergence of new entities, namely national concessionaires and regulators for the oil and mining sectors.
To him, these reforms were developed to improve the business environment in the sector, providing greater transparency and competitiveness, in addition to regularly allowing, in recent years, the attraction of leading private investments and the establishment of large global oil and mining companies in Angola.
Such measures also allowed the maintenance of large international companies, namely the American multinational energy corporation (Chevron Corporation), the European multinational integrated energy and petroleum company (TOTAL), the American multinational oil and gas corporation (ExxonMobil Corporation), the British Petroleum Company (BP p.l.c) and Italian multinational energy company (Eni S.p.A), the last two of which currently exist through the “Azule Energy joint-venture”.
The mentioned reforms also enabled the arrival of the oil company Petronas in Block 20 and the return of British multinational oil and gas company (Shell plc), which recently signed a memorandum of understanding with ANPG, to carry out joint studies in several oil blocks.
Oil contribution to GDP
The oil industry continues to be the main lubricant of the Angolan economy, with a contribution of around 30.41% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), representing 95% of the country's exports.
In the third quarter of 2024, a volume of around 102.1 million barrels of crude oil was exported, an increase of 5.42% compared to the 2nd quarter and 2.01% compared to the same period in 2023.
These exports resulted in the collection of USD 8.1 billion, of which 26.73% of the exported volume belongs to ANPG and 15.54% to Sonangol.
As for international companies, stands out the Azule Energy with 13.15%, TotalEnergies (12.60%), Esso (9.98%), SSI (7.36%), Equinor with 6.62% and Cabgoc and 5.79%.
The main destinations for respective exports were China with 46.22%, Indonesia (6.74%), India (6.60%), Brazil (5.67%), Spain (4.87%) and France (4.71).
The Angolan crudes (specific types of oil) extracted in the period under analysis were Dália, Mostarda, Hungo, Paz Flor, Kissanje, Girassol, Nemba and Clov.
Natural gas production
To date, the country only produces natural gas associated with oil, through the Angola LNG processing factory, located in the municipality of Soyo, Zaire province.
Soyo intends to reach the peak of its production in the second quarter of 2025, increasing from the current 700 million to 1 billion cubic feet per day.
The increase in production should result, fundamentally, from some ongoing investments in the plant, as well as the increase in the volume of associated and non-associated gas, to be supplied to the plant by oil platforms located offshore (high seas) and by consortiums that signed the contract in November this year.
With this agreement, Angola will produce natural gas not associated with oil, from 2025, through the New Gas Consortium (NCG).
The project will be developed by the consortium made up of operators Sonangol, Azule Energy, TotalEnergies and Cabinda Gulf, and which might generate the creation of 400 jobs during the construction phase of the respective platforms and 300 jobs during the construction of the gas treatment plant in land, not Soyo.
At the same time, the New Gas Consortium (NCG) foresees contributions to social projects in the order of USD 2 million per year, counting from the start of production until the end of the concession's production period in 2056.
To begin exploration activities in the fields called “Quiluma” and “Maboqueiro”, ANPG and NCG discussed the Risk Service Contract, valued at around US 4 billion, to cover capital costs and operational throughout the life cycle of the first project of its kind in the country.
According to the minister, the production of non-oil gas marks an important milestone in achieving the objectives defined by the Angolan government, with emphasis on attracting investment, boosting the economy and making a significant contribution to GDP growth.
Still in 2024, the proposal for the Natural Gas Master Plan was completed after being assessed by the Cabinet ministers in December, after public consultation on October 21st.
On the other hand, the implementation of the Quiluma and Maboqueiro project continues, with production scheduled to begin at the end of 2025, with emphasis also on the Sanha Lean Gas Connection project, whose production began on December 21, 2024.
Angola exported around 1.3 million metric tons of gas this year, 81.15% of which corresponded to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
Perspectives
For 2025, the sector plans to explore oil onshore in the Cabinda Norte Block, municipality of Cacongo, province of Cabinda, in an initiative by the company ACREP-Oil Exports.
This involves the exploration of more than 20 wells drilled since 1968 in the municipalities of Massabi and Dinge, under a program called Nzila.
The prospects also include the continued construction of the Cabinda, Soyo and Lobito refineries, with the inauguration of the first phase of the Cabinda Refinery scheduled for June or July 2025.
Construction activities at the Barra do Dande Ocean Terminal, as part of increasing fuel storage capacity on land, continue and the first phase of this project is expected to be completed at the beginning of 2025.
In terms of prospects for 2025, in the field of oil production, the sector will continue to develop actions for interventions and intensify the replacement of reserves, mitigate the effects of the drop in production, maintaining production levels above 1 million barrels daily.
Angola is one of the largest oil producers in Africa, in particular, and in the world, in general, with vast offshore and onshore reserves that are mainly located in the provinces of Cabinda and Zaire, in addition to having oil in other regions of the country like in Namibe. QCB/VC/IZ/MRA/DOJ
