Angola’s National Agency for Oil, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) has announced that global major ExxonMobil has made a new hydrocarbon discovery in the Bavuca Sul-1 exploration well offshore Angola.
The well is located in Block 15 which is situated approximately 365 km northwest of the coast of Luanda.
ExxonMobil is expecting to produce around 40,000 barrels of oil per day from the project, a development that is expected to help Africa’s largest crude oil producer to address its declines in output due to natural diminishes in legal projects and underinvestment in upstream projects caused by various factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy transition.
In a statement, ANPG revealed that the major “encountered 98 feet of high-quality sandstone containing hydrocarbons.”
According to Liam Mallon, President of ExxonMobil Upstream Company, the discovery falls under efforts by the company to implement a series of new technologies and drilling solutions to exploit the country’s rich basins which remain fully untapped. “ExxonMobil is optimizing this resource and creating value for the Angolan people,” stated Mallon.
The block in which the discovery has been made is operated by ExxonMobil with a 36% stake whilst bp holds a 24% share, Eni a 18% stake and Equinor a 12% share and Sonangol a 10% stake.
