ANPG Executive Administrator Alcides Andrade outlined the strategy at Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) 2026 in Luanda on September 9, describing a more intensive exploration program spanning seismic acquisition, geological studies and increased drilling activity.

“We want to implement geological exploration, seismic activities and more well-drilling by the end of the year,” Andrade said, adding that ANPG needs to meet its 10-well-per-year target to sustain its ambitions and develop Angola’s resource potential.

The drilling target forms part of a broader effort to rebuild Angola’s exploration pipeline as declining output from mature assets places pressure on production. ANPG is pursuing new acreage, seismic programs and upstream projects intended to generate discoveries that can feed future oil and gas developments.

The agency is expanding seismic coverage across frontier basins, including the Kwanza, Namibe and Benguela areas, while more than 45,000 km² of legacy seismic data is being reprocessed to improve subsurface imaging. Ultra-deepwater work includes TGS’ approximately 17,150-line-km Ultra Profundo 2D survey, which is generating new data from the Lower Congo to the Namibe basins.

New drilling is also being supported by agreements formalized at AOG 2026, including Risk Service Contracts involving ANPG, Shell, Equinor and Sonangol for Blocks 19, 34 and 35, as well as agreements involving ANPG, Chevron, Shell and Sonangol for Block 33/24. The contracts include exploration periods, seismic reprocessing and exploration-well commitments.

The exploration push extends to onshore acreage, where operators are applying enhanced Full Tensor Gravimetry surveys to refine drilling targets in Kwanza blocks ahead of planned wells. ANPG is also seeking to convert discoveries into projects capable of supporting longer-term production and domestic gas supply.

Gas is increasingly central to that strategy, with Andrade highlighting more than 50 trillion cubic feet of potential resources and the need to bring them into development. ANPG’s Gas Master Plan anticipates about $70 billion in midstream investment through 2050 as domestic gas demand rises from roughly 30 million cubic feet per day to 500 million cubic feet per day.

ANPG Chairman Paulino Jerónimo said the exploration drive is intended to address production losses that followed Angola’s 2-million-barrel-per-day peak in 2008. The country subsequently lost almost 400,000 barrels per day between 2015 and 2017, reinforcing the need to generate new discoveries and projects.

“We are firmly confident that new discoveries and new projects coming into production will result in Angola maintaining its 2-million-barrel-per-day rate,” Jerónimo said, linking future production capacity to the success of the country’s renewed exploration program.

ANPG’s strategy combines new licensing opportunities with fiscal and regulatory reforms introduced through marginal-field, abandonment and contract-acceleration measures. With more than 70 blocks available across Angola, the agency expects continued exploration activity to build the discovery pipeline needed to sustain production and develop the country’s broader oil and gas potential.