Angola NEWS

Energy Capital & Power (www.EnergyCapitalPower.com) International Conference Director, João Gaspar Marques, spoke to H.E Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas of Angola, about the impact of COVID-19 on the country’s oil and gas sector. What have been key developments in the Angolan oil and gas sector in the past twelve months, giving particular weight to the state of emergency imposed by COVID-19?Since the beginning of the pandemic, the mineral resources, oil and gas sector has materialized and expanded its reforms with the consolidation of the role of the National Oil and Gas Agency, ANPG, as National Concessionaire and the execution of the Restructuring/Regeneration Program of Sonangol-EP.

Seadrill Limited announced a new contract has been secured by Sonadrill Holding Ltd, the 50/50 joint venture with an affiliate of Sonangol E.P. Sonadrill has secured a twelve well contract with one option for nine wells and eleven one well options in Angola for the Sonangol Quenguela drillship. The total contract value for the firm portion of the contract is expected to be approximately $131 million with commencement expected in Q1 2022 and running to Q3 2023.

Fugro has been awarded multiple contracts by Eni Angola to carry out geotechnical and environmental surveys off the coast of Angola. Two Fugro vessels from their world’s largest fleet of specialist geotechnical and geophysical vessels are currently active in the region. Multipurpose survey vessel the Fugro Scout, specifically designed for seabed sampling and in situ testing in water depths up to 3000 m, has embarked on a deepwater environmental survey to acquire, analyse and interpret sediment and water samples from Eni Angola’s Agogo field development.

The decline of Angola, from being Africa’s top crude producer five years ago to barely pumping more than war-torn Libya today, shows the heavy toll of a slump in oil-industry investment. The nation’s production has fallen by more than a third since 2015. Despite government efforts to stimulate activity, just a handful of drilling rigs now work in the deep Atlantic waters that hold the country’s greatest resources.

Sonangol yesterday informed about opening up a public tender to sell out its stakes in some private firms. The move comes as Angola's government looks to privatize key state assets by 2022. It will divest 30% interest in Petromar, Sonadiets Ltd and Sonadiets Services SA, 51% in Sonatide Marine Ltd and Sonatide Marine Angola Ltd and 40% in Sonamet Industrial SA and Sonacergy Services and Construction Petroleum Ltd.

EPC giant, TechnipFMC has landed an integrated EPCI contract from BP Angola for the Platina field. The contract, worth between $75m and $250m, will see TechnipFMC carrying out the manufacturing, delivery and installation of subsea equipment at Block 18 of the Platina field. TechnipFMC Subsea President, Arnaud Pieton commented: “We are very pleased to have been selected by BP for this important deepwater development offshore Angola.

Oil supermajor, Total has inked an agreement with Angolian state-owned Sonangol to buy stakes in two blocks of the Kwanza Basin, offshore Angola. The deal will gain Total ownership to 50% working interest in Block 20/11, and 80% working interest in Block 21/09. While the payment of $400m to Sonangol will come upon completion of the transaction, another $100m will be funded after reaching a final investment decision (FID).

Angola’s national oil, gas and biofuels agency ANGP has informed about forming a consortium with five international oil companies including Eni and Chevron. The consortium will work on developing liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the Soyo plant. With an initial cost of $2 billion, the project is anticipated to begin production by 2022, an ANGP spokesman said.

BHGE will inaugurate its multimodal facility (MMF) for oil and gas in Luanda, Angola. This facility will support customers and projects in Angola and the Southern Africa region. It has the capability to deliver a suite of products and services across the oil and gas value chain which includes oilfield services, oilfield equipment, turbomachinery & process solutions, and digital services. Lunda's facility is the reflection of BHGE's localization strategy.

Italian oil major, Eni has informed about discovering oil offshore Angola. Eni discovered hydrocarbons while drilling on the Ndungu-1 new field wildcat (NFW) well. The discovery is estimated to contain up to 250 million barrels of light oil. Eni operates Block 15/06 with an interest of 36.8421%, with partners Sonangol (36.8421%) and SSI Fifteen (26.3158%).

Malaysia-based Sapura Energy Bhd has received four new contracts and one extension, which has a collective value of RM760 million ($184.87 million). The integrated oil and gas group will realize three drilling contracts and two contracts for the E&C segment. In Angola, Sapura secured a two-year contract by a Chevron Corp unit. In Malaysia, Sapura extended its separate contract with Sarawak Shell Bhd and Petronas.

Italian oil major, Eni reported oil discovery in the Afoxé exploration prospect, offshore Angola. The new discovery is projected to possess around 170 MMbbl to 200 MMbbl of light oil. The Afoxé-1 NFW well was drilled in a water depth of 780 metres, reaching a total depth of 1,723 metres. Intensive data collection from the well is indicating a production capacity of more than 5,000 bpd of oil.

The second-largest oil producer of Africa, Angola, has been hit by the waves of lower oil prices which resulted in its failure of providing economic support to the country. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) informed on Tuesday that it would provide Angola the financial support, amount still undisclosed, as the country's economic growth has dropped down this year. The weaker economic conditions of Angola stopped many foreign countries from investing.

UK Ambassador to Angola, Jessica Hand, has described the relationship between UK and Angola to be excellent, with emphasis on the oil sector. She also stated that her country wants to extend bilateral cooperation in other areas as well, such as renewable energy, agriculture, and even democratic support to Angola. Ambassador Hand went on to praise Angola’s efforts to encourage foreign investment, especially from the UK.

Singapore-based PACC Offshore Services Holdings (POSH) has renewed the ship agency contract with GAC Angola. POSH, which is an offshore marine services provider, is taking services from GAC for Soyo and Luanda, but the renewed contract has included Cabinda as well. The contract requires GAC to provide an integrated range of services for the POSH fleet at all Angolan ports.

TechnipFMC has bagged an EPC contract for Total’s Zinia Phase 2 field development, located offshore Angola. The scope of the contract includes the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of subsea equipment comprising 9 subsea tree units as well as wellheads, subsea control systems, connection systems and associated equipment. Total’s contract will also require support services, performed by TechnipFMC in Angola, for the assembly, test, mobilization and installation.

Total, the French oil major, has decided to make an investment of $1.2b to stimulate offshore production in Angola. Angola is the second-largest oil producer in Africa, though a period of lower oil prices and field maturation are curbing its potential. Total has regarded this new investment as the opening of a "new chapter" in the deep waters of Angola. Total leads a consortium developing the Zinia 2 offshore development.