Angola’s onshore and marginal field development has seen a recent revival, with the country concluding a 12-block tender in January 2023. Offering blocks across the onshore Lower Congo and Kwanza Basins, the tender – which formed part of a six-year licensing round launched in 2019 – secured 53 bids, with five blocks awarded to several E&P firms. With seven blocks still available and a 2025 licensing round on the cards, Angola is inviting investment across its onshore market as the country aims to bolster oil production.
The Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) 2024 conference – scheduled for October 2-3 in Luanda – will unpack the strategic competitiveness of investing in the country’s onshore market and how companies can leverage existing infrastructure to deliver successful projects. Global financiers, high-profile project developers and key players from the Angolan and international energy sectors will gain insights into the available onshore blocks and other upstream opportunities.
AOG is the largest oil and gas event in Angola. Taking place with the full support of the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas; national oil company Sonangol; the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency; the African Energy Chamber; and the Petroleum Derivatives Regulatory Institute, the event is a platform to sign deals and advance Angola’s oil and gas industry. To sponsor or participate as a delegate, please contact sales@energycapitalpower.com.
The Relaunch of Marginal and Onshore Exploration
Angola’s onshore oil and gas market has experienced a resurgence with the anticipated resumption of crude production in the Kwanza Basin after a three-decade hiatus. In 2023, British energy company Corcel announced that the TO-14 well in the KON-11 block confirmed the presence of oil, echoing results from the earlier TO-13 well on the same block. Corcel holds a 20% stake in the block, alongside Angola’s state-owned oil company Sonangol with a 30% stake, while the remaining interest is held by energy companies Brite’s Oil and Gas (25%), Grupo Simples (20%) and Omega Risk Solutions (5%). The KON-11 block, situated south of Luanda could contain 65 million barrels of prospective oil resources, with production potentially starting in 2024.
Angola’s Onshore: A Strategic Investment Opportunity
Investing in Angola’s onshore market has several strategic advantages for E&P companies. The seven available blocks lie in the Lower Congo and Kwanza basins, both of which have been extensively surveyed; have shown high success rates in post-salt wildcats; and hold promising but underexplored pre-salt succession. Existing data will support drilling campaigns.
Additionally, investing in onshore blocks in Angola offers strong opportunities due to the country’s growing transport and logistics infrastructure, which supports new concessions and accelerates exploration and development. Angola’s strategy to expand its infrastructure will bolster new discoveries, increase production capacity and reduce imports. Notably, the country plans to build an integrated terminal and logistics hub in Soyo, near the Lower Congo Basin, with a production capacity of 65,000 barrels per day (bpd) and storage for two million barrels, offering investors import exemptions and a ten-year tax holiday. Similarly, the Kwanza Terminal and Pipeline Routes Project – with a 25,000-bpd production capacity and one million barrels of storage – will start by 2029, offering similar financial incentives.
Existing infrastructure – such as the Kwanda Logistics Base in Soyo and the SONILS onshore supply base near Luanda – supports 65% of the country’s daily oil production, facilitating cargo handling, engineering and the development of specialized oil and gas facilities. This infrastructure is a significant advantage for exports and any future onshore projects.
The AOG 2024 conference will unpack the strategic advantages of investing in Angola’s onshore block opportunities. Uniting infrastructure leaders, frontier E&P firms and investors from the global and regional landscape, the event convenes under the theme Driving Exploration and Development towards Increased Production in Angola.
