Speaking during a closing fireside chat at the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) Conference and Exhibition 2026, Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil & Gas Diamantino Azevedo said increasing exploration would be critical to raising production.

“We need to explore more, create mechanisms to facilitate exploration. This is what will bring more possibilities to increase production,” Minister Azevedo said.

Since 2018, Angola has overhauled its upstream framework through the creation of the National Oil, Gas & Biofuels Agency (ANPG), the 2019-2025 multi-year licensing strategy and the Permanent Offer Regime. Fiscal incentives for marginal fields and the Incremental Production Decree have further encouraged investment in mature assets and commercially challenging resources, helping extend the productive life of existing concessions.

Minister Azevedo said the government must now shift its attention toward the next stage of the sector’s development.

“We must look into the future,” he said. “The past is important to lay the foundation for the present, but we must look at the future. Reforms were fundamental. We had a strategy and have verified that it has been fulfilled. The ANPG was established, we revised legislation, but most importantly, we strengthened interaction with the industry.”

José Alexandre Barroso, Angola’s Secretary of State for Oil and Gas, said the reforms had created the legal and fiscal conditions needed to support further private and public investment.

“The government created the necessary conditions, in terms of legal and fiscal regimes, that allow our sector to favor private and public investments so that we can accelerate exploration so that we can not only stabilize production today, but eventually increase these levels tomorrow,” Barroso said.

Angola is now turning to ANPG’s Hydrocarbon Strategy 2025-2050, which is intended to intensify exploration and support reserve replacement. The strategy is currently under review and is expected to guide the next phase of the country’s upstream development.

Minister Azevedo said the strategy would need to address several challenges facing the sector, including exploration, licensing, production and investment.

“We have a challenge to continue exploration, bidding for blocks, stabilizing production, looking to increase output and attract investment,” he said.

The policy shift is already coinciding with a new wave of projects. The Agogo Integrated West Hub began production in 2025, followed by the Ndungu full-field development in 2026, while Greater PAJ reached a $5.2 billion final investment decision this year. TotalEnergies is also progressing the $6 billion Kaminho development toward first oil in 2028, establishing a new production hub in the Kwanza Basin.

At the same time, incremental-production agreements and extensions across mature blocks are supporting further investment in Angola’s existing asset base, while new exploration acreage is being developed across the Kwanza and Congo basins.

The combination of new projects, mature-field investment and renewed exploration is shifting Angola’s upstream focus toward sustaining production while creating new sources of reserves and future output.