(Bloomberg) – Angola’s president urged energy companies to boost investment in onshore oil fields to counter a sustained decline in crude production.
“Onshore exploration must be stimulated and promoted,” João Lourenço said Wednesday at the opening of an oil and gas conference in Luanda, the capital. Adding that the country is offering investors “contractual stability, legal security, predictability and due return in accordance with the best international practices.”
Angola’s crude output slipped below one million barrels a day in July, threatening state revenues that fund more than 90% of exports.
Africa’s third-biggest crude producer is finalizing a new licensing plan covering 2026 to 2030, which will include both offshore blocks and inland basins, said Paulino Jeronimo, head of Angolan Agency for Oil, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG), said at same event. The government also plans to shorten the time it takes to award concessions to attract more exploration drilling.
Angola has drilled only a handful of wells compared with the number of blocks awarded, making it important to study new ways to provide incentives for exploration, Jeronimo said.
bp Plc Chief Executive Officer Murray Auchincloss told the conference the company’s offshore West Hub project could reach 175,000 bpd at peak, helping Angola maintain production near the 1 million-barrel mark.
