Angola’s recently amended 2020-2025 Hydrocarbon Exploration Strategy is expected to require $870 million in investment. The breakdown includes $679 million for the acquisition of geophysical and geological data, while the state budget allocation to the National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG)- the national concessionaire- is estimated at $188 million for studies on the evaluation, promotion and bidding of oil potential.
As a result of increased investment, the ANPG foresees the discovery of about 40 to 57 billion barrels of crude oil in the interior and divided basis in blocks, which may guarantee production above one million barrels of oil per day.
The concessionaire also foresees the discovery of 17.5 to 27 billion gas resources, which will serve for continuous supply to the Angola LNG (ALNG) plant, including the construction of a second ALNG train and the creation of a new monetisation development pole gas in the South-Central region of the country.
ANPG’s objectives include accessing an area of 575,000km2, negotiating the remaining blocks until 2023 and dividing the ultra-deep areas of the Kwanza and Benguela basins into blocks from 2022 to 2024.
According to the strategy, the national concessionaire will carry out the evaluation of the 33 blocks between 2020 and 2022 to support the replacement of reserves in the Lower Congo Basin. The evaluation will also encourage the exploitation of natural gas potential in the Kwanza and inland basins, with the aim of promoting natural gas development poles across the territory.
After being evaluated and submitted to tender through an open bidding round, the blocks will then be available for geological, geophysical and geochemical surgery work to be carried out from 2023 onward.
Approved in late-August, Angola’s 2020-2025 Hydrocarbon Exploration Strategy centres on four key pillars: accessing to the country’s sedimentary basins for research and evaluation; expanding geological knowledge and access to oil and natural gas resources; ensuring the successful execution of the general strategy for the allocation of oil concessions; and intensifying research and evaluation in concessions and free areas of sedimentary basins.
