One of the featured sessions – the “Ministerial Panel: Increased Production Through Investment-Friendly Reforms” – will highlight the regulatory strategies supporting production growth. The panel will provide insight into upcoming block opportunities across Angola’s deepwater, shallow water and onshore basins. As sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest oil producer, Angola is working to sustain crude production above one million bpd beyond 2027. To meet this target, the government is introducing reforms to attract new investment, with policy updates designed to incentivize activity in both mature and frontier blocks.

To stimulate reinvestment in mature assets, Angola launched its Incremental Production Initiative in 2024, introducing improved fiscal terms for operators aiming to maximize output from producing fields. The initiative has already delivered results: energy major ExxonMobil made a discovery at the Likember-01 field in 2024. Opportunities in marginal fields – located within existing producing blocks – are also being promoted, presenting entry points for independent and smaller operators. The Ministerial Panel will examine the impact of these reforms on Angola’s current production landscape and their role in enhancing output from aging fields.

In addition to incremental production, Angola is actively promoting frontier exploration through flexible investment structures. Beyond the ongoing multi-year licensing round, several block opportunities are available via direct negotiation, offering investors alternatives to conventional bid rounds. These structures aim to attract interest in high-potential areas such as the Etosha-Okavango Basin – an onshore basin spanning southern Angola and northern Namibia. In April 2025, Canadian energy company ReconAfrica signed an agreement with Angola’s upstream regulator, the National Oil, Gas & Biofuels Agency (ANPG), to explore 5.2 million acres in the basin. The company will carry out oil and gas seep analysis, a 2D seismic survey and regional geological studies over the next 24 months. This deal follows a similar agreement between ANPG and Vietnam’s XTG for joint research and exploration in the same basin. The Ministerial Panel will address Angola’s frontier opportunities, including potential play-opening discoveries and cross-border collaboration.

Another key session, “From Extraction to Expansion: Financing Angola’s Oil & Gas Development,” will explore how Angola is leveraging multilateral lenders, development finance institutions and private equity to advance its energy projects. With upstream capital expenditure becoming more competitive globally, Angola is turning to innovative financing models. Blended finance and development finance are playing an increasingly central role, with several landmark projects already benefiting from such frameworks.

For example, the Cabinda Refinery, expected online in 2025, is supported by a financing package led by the Africa Finance Corporation, African Export-Import Bank and a consortium of local and international lenders. The remaining $138 million was secured through equity. Angola’s first non-associated gas project – developed by the New Gas Consortium – employs a hybrid structure combining project and vendor financing, effectively balancing risk and return.

By embracing new financing models, Angola is broadening its investor base and reshaping how oil and gas projects are developed. The financing session at AOG 2025 will connect investors with Angolan opportunities, fostering collaboration to meet the country’s energy development goals.