Angola draws majors into new offshore exploration push

Angola has recorded a series of offshore developments involving TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, Shell, and QatarEnergy, including two discoveries, new exploration acreage, and planned investments.

TotalEnergies said it had made a discovery with the Acacia-5 well on Block 17, where it holds a 38% operating interest. The company is developing the discovery through existing infrastructure, with Acacia-5 due to be tied back to the Pazflor FPSO and add about 6,000 barrels per day.

TotalEnergies also has interests in Blocks 17/25 and 32/21 in the Lower Congo Basin. The company will operate both blocks with a 40% stake. ExxonMobil will hold 40%, while Sonangol E&P will take the remaining 20%. The blocks are located near TotalEnergies’ existing operations on Blocks 17 and 32, where six FPSOs are producing.

Furthermore, the French major announced plans for around $10bn in investments in Angola over the next five years. The company is targeting production of around 450,000 barrels per day in the country and is developing the $6bn Kaminho project in the Kwanza Basin, with first production scheduled for 2028.

In a separate announcement, ExxonMobil announced it made a discovery on Block 15. The Vicango Este-01 exploration well, around 370 km northwest of Luanda, is the 20th discovery on Block 15, which has produced more than 2.7bn barrels over the past three decades.

Another supermajor, Shell, signed an agreement with QatarEnergy and Sonangol to develop offshore discoveries on Blocks 8 and 22. Shell will operate the acreage with a 50% interest, QatarEnergy will hold 30%, while Sonangol will take 20%.

These fresh announcements come as Angola continues to seek new offshore resources to offset declining output from mature fields.