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Sonangol CEO Sebastião Gaspar Martins will speak at the African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energy conference in Cape Town this November, as Angola seeks to attain energy security, affordability and reliability on the back of accelerated oil and gas investment.

National oil company (NOC) Sonangol is actively promoting Angola’s hydrocarbon industry, along with the National Agency of Oil, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG), with a view to stabilizing production above 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) and increasing its share of operated crude oil and natural gas production from two to 10% by 2027. Last September, the NOC spudded the Tobias-13 well as part of drilling and evaluation work in Block KON11 in the onshore Kwanza Basin, aiming to fast-track a potential discovery into development.

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 Angola has seen an uptick in exploration and production activities from its leading IOCs. In Block 17, TotalEnergies is working towards first production at the CLOV Phase 3 project, consisting of a five-well expansion set to increase production by 30,000 bpd. The French major is also developing the offshore Cameia and Golfinho fields, as well as anticipating first production from the offshore Begonia oil field later this year, adding another 30,000 bpd. Meanwhile, the ANPG is finalizing production sharing negotiations from its latest 12-block tender and is set to launch its next oil and gas licensing round in 2025.

Natural gas has risen to the forefront of Angola’s agenda, able to diversify the national economy through gas-based industries and serve as an intermediary fuel in the energy transition. Last December, Sonangol inaugurated its Falcão Phase 2 gas project that delivers gas from the Angola LNG plant to the Soyo I combined-cycle power plant, boosting processing capacity to 125 million cubic feet and enabling gas distribution to industry and petrochemical plants across the southern region. Last October, Angola’s New Gas Consortium – operated by Azule Energy – launched construction of gas processing facilities in Soyo, which will transport gas from the shallow-water Quiluma and Maboqueiro fields to an onshore gas processing plant and a connection to Angola LNG, with targeted production of 4 billion cubic meters per year.

Downstream, the first phase of Angola’s 60,000-bpd Cabinda Refinery will start production later this year – meeting up to 10% of domestic fuel demand – while the 200,000-bpd Lobito and 100,000-bpd Soyo refineries are also underway. The completion of the Barra Do Dande Ocean Terminal is on track for July 2024, supporting the country’s oil industry by enabling sufficient storage and guaranteeing strategic reserves. 

Meanwhile, Sonangol is pioneering hydrogen production in the country, developing a landmark 400 MW green hydrogen project powered by hydroelectricity in partnership with two German engineering firms. The facility is expected to begin producing and exporting up to 280,000 tons of green ammonia this year, making it the first project of its kind in Africa to supply Europe with the resource.

“Sonangol is consolidating its position as a nexus of innovation and excellence by driving exploration drilling, improving fuel access and availability, and rolling out ambitious hydrogen and renewable projects. Powered by untapped gas resources, local skill development and digital transformation, Angola invites global investors to participate in the country’s diversified energy growth, as it advances large-scale, integrated projects across multiple sectors,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber.

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