KEY POINTS
- Angola plans to launch new oil and gas licensing rounds in 2026.
- The country seeks to increase production following its OPEC exit.
- Chevron explores investment opportunities in under-explored West Africa.
As Angola seeks to increase production and attract investment, the African oil producer plans to launch additional multi-year oil and gas licensing rounds beginning in 2026, an official at the country’s regulator told Reuters on Thursday.
Angola sets sights on boosting oil production and investment
Angola has already offered 50 onshore and offshore blocks for exploration as part of its 2019-2025 bid rounds. Now, the country is preparing for further multi-year licensing rounds for 2026 and beyond.
“We have already started to work on a plan for after 2025 and are currently executing our exploration strategy, which involves evaluating different sedimentary basins in the country,” Alcides Andrade, a board member of the National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels, told Reuters. Angola’s oil production peaked in 2008 at around 2 million barrels per day. Output has declined in recent years, largely due to underinvestment in offshore resources stemming from high development costs, leading many companies to bypass Angola as an investment destination.
Angola’s OPEC departure signals focus on independent production growth
According to oilprice angola aims to boost its current oil production of approximately 1.1 million barrels per day, a key factor in its decision to leave OPEC as of January 2024, following disputes with OPEC and OPEC+ over production quotas. In June 2023, OPEC+ assigned Angola and Nigeria lower crude oil production quotas, citing years of underperformance and missed targets.
For Angola, this decision was a turning point, leading to its exit from the OPEC cartel as it seeks to revive production.
Earlier this week, U.S. oil and gas company Chevron announced plans to invest in exploration blocks offshore Angola and Nigeria, aiming to reinvigorate exploration in what it described as an under-explored oil region.
West Africa is “such a hydrocarbon-rich part of the world and relatively under-explored compared to other jurisdictions,” Liz Schwarze, Chevron Global Exploration Vice President, told Bloomberg in an interview published Tuesday.
