Angola’s onshore blocks are attracting growing attention as strategic investment opportunities for energy companies. With an upcoming 2025 licensing round set for the first quarter of this year, Angola is expected to attract significant interest from local and international companies seeking to participate in exploration and production activities in the country.

Exploration Plans and Future Outlook

With preliminary results expected in the first quarter of this year, a consortium of consultancy firms including Striped-Horse and Metatek recently collected and processed gravimetric and magnometric data for the KON-11, KON-12 and KON-15 blocks. Situated in the onshore Kwanza Basin, the data acquired from the blocks will allow the identification of variations in the properties of the rocks, indicating the presence of geological structures that may contain oil and other hydrocarbons.

Meanwhile, as part of a strategy to pursue new ventures and acquire oil and gas processing assets in Angola, integrated energy firm Corcel has shown significant interest in the Kwanza Basin. Last September, the company completed the data acquisition phase of the Enhanced Full Tensor Gradiometry Survey on Block KON-16. The data was collected by contractor Metatek and is set to provide geological insights that will enable the exploration and development of the block.

With the goal of drilling the first new well on the block since the 1960s, Corcel will combine the survey data with existing well data, which will guide the company’s targeted 2D seismic program for 2025. This comes as Corcel confirmed the presence of oil – potentially 65 million barrels – in the TO-14 well in Block KON-11 in February 2024.

Collaboration and Concessions

In the onshore Lower Congo Basin, oil and gas company Grupo Simples was qualified by the ANPG as a non-operator for Blocks CON-2 and CON-8 as the company pursues play-opening discoveries in Angola’s onshore. A production sharing contract for Block CON-2 was signed in July 2024, outlining an exploration phase of five years and a production and development phase of 25 years – pending the declaration of a commercial discovery.

Meanwhile, a production sharing contract was also signed for Block CON-8 in the same month, which will be developed by Grupo Simples, Angolan oil company Etu Energias and exploration and production company Effimax Energt under a five-year exploration phase and a 25-year production and development phase.

A concession signed for Block KON-2, which took place in Luanda in May 2023, marked the entry of upstream and downstream development company Inktank Group, upstream consultancy company Birte’s Oil and Gas and mining solutions company MTI Group to Angola’s market. Acquisition of Block KON-11 involved a consortium comprising Birte’s Oil and Gas, independent energy company Atlas Petroleum Exploration Worldwide (Apex), Grupo Simples and consultation service group Omega Risk Solutions.

Additional terms for the concession include a 5-year exploration phase, a subsequent 2-year exploration phase and a 2-year base production period, with a minimum spend of $6 million for KON-11 and KON-12, and $3 million for KON-16. Corcel marked its debut in the Angolan market after acquiring a 90% interest in Apex in May 2023, resulting in a working interest in Blocks KON-11, KON-12 and KON-16. Corcel CEO Scott Gilbert indicated that developing Angola’s onshore blocks serve as part of the company’s growth strategy, which involves conducting drilling operations in Block KON-16.

Exploring Angola’s Onshore Potential

Investing in Angola’s onshore market has several strategic advantages for exploration and production companies. The 2025 bid round will feature six available onshore blocks in the Lower Congo and Kwanza Basins, both of which have been extensively surveyed; have shown high success rates in post-wildcats; and hold promising, but underexplored pre-salt succession.

The signed concession and production sharing contracts also signal new opportunities for the expansion of exploration and production activities while consolidating the upstream potential that remains in the mature market.