Africa-Press – Angola. The first commercial production of oil in Blocks 20 and 21 of the Kwanza Basin is expected between the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027, following the Principle Agreement signed this Tuesday between the National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG ), TotalEnergies Angola and Sonangol.
The Agreement signed will make it possible to make this first development project in the Kwanza Basin viable, after the discoveries made 10 years ago by the contractor group Cobalt, which ended up giving up on the development process, having passed it on to Sonangol, in turn, to TotalEnergies.
The development project for Blocks 20 and 21, which will now be unified, is located around 150 kilometers southwest of Luanda and will comprise a floating platform of the “FPSO” type, the seventh of TotalEnergies in Angola, anchored at 1,700 meters depth of water and connected to an underwater production network.
With new fiscal and contractual terms, as part of the revision made to the Executive Decree on Marginal Fields, the initialed agreement provides for the development of discoveries already made in the two Blocks with an estimated production capacity of between 70 and 100 thousand barrels day (BOPD).
According to the chairman of the Board of Directors of ANPG, Paulino Jerónimo, with this “agreement”, in two or three months, the partners will make the final decision in terms of investment to be made, which could be around five billion dollars.
The field starts producing in late 2026 or early 2027, a production that is waiting to help reduce the decline in production, currently estimated at 1.1 million barrels per day.
“If all goes well and all documentation is approved by the Executive, we think we will have commercial production in the Kwanza maritime basin for the first time”, said Paulino Jerónimo with an optimistic air.
TotalEnergies Angola owns 80% of this contract and the other 20% remains with Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção, which will be the co-operator of the project.
Also according to Paulino Jerónimo, TotalEnergies Angola will soon also transfer its stake in another entity to be announced.
The managing director of TotalEnergies Angola, Martin Deffontaines, highlighted the importance of the initialed agreement which, in his view, will make it possible to put the Cameia and Golfinho discoveries into production and to value new national energy resources.
“The signing of this agreement means that the partners in this project are aligned and aim to carry out the first oil development project in the Kwanza Basin”, considered Martin Deffontaines.
On the same occasion, the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, praised the commitment of the partners to the implementation of the agreement.
The steps to be taken also require the active participation of its portfolio, ensuring speed in its effectiveness.
“Congratulations on the important step and I hope that the remaining steps will be taken with the same rigor and that the promised time will reach the objectives and the foreseen goals”, inaugurates the holder.
Other spot deals _
The National Concessionaire-ANPG will continue with the negotiation process and other agreements related to marginal fields may come to fruition in the near future.
According to the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Paulino Jerónimo, an agreement is foreseen for the Chissonga field in Block 16, three fields in Block 31, and others in Block 32, while the fields in Block 0 are being developed
. production of the first and second marginal fields, namely Nsinga and Lifua, and at this time construction of the platform for the development of Dália Sul begins.
“All this is what will make it possible to stabilize production, but the most important thing is that we continue to explore. Only with new discoveries will it be possible to replace the reserves produced now”, said Paulino Jerónimo in statements to the press on the sidelines of the event.
Oil is one of Angola’s most strategic resources, representing yesterday more than 90% of the country’s total exports, approximately 20% of the national GDP and 40% of the State’s tax revenues.
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