The well sits approximately 370 km northwest of the coast of Luanda and was drilled in 940 meters of water by the Valaris DS-9 drillship. It encountered around 25 meters of high-quality sandstone with 22% porosity containing hydrocarbons. It is the third discovery on Block 15 in four years, following Bavuca South-1 in 2022 and Likembe-01 in 2024.

ExxonMobil Angola President and General Manager Brian Unietis disclosed the find at the Angola Oil & Gas conference in Luanda, during an Executive Leadership Dialogue sponsored by Banco BAI. “We have more activity in the block than we've had in a decade,” he said, adding that Block 15 has “a remarkable history, but there's more to come, and I think this just proves that.”

Unietis confirmed that Vicango East is the first of two infrastructure-led exploration wells ExxonMobil has planned on the block this year, with the second scheduled directly after. The operator is shooting 4D seismic across the entire block for the first time in seven years, preparing the Likembe subsea tieback for first oil in 2028, and carrying out life extension work on the Saxi and Mondo floating production units.

“Ultimately, we're going to invest where the data supports a material resource, where we have confidence in the execution efficiency, and where we know we can create value both for the country, for our partners, and for our shareholders,” Unietis said.

ANPG Chairman Paulino Jerónimo said the result followed adjustments to the legal framework, citing Decree 8/24 on incremental production and Decree 5/18, which permits exploration within and adjacent to existing development areas.

Speaking on the same panel, ANPG Executive Administrator Alcides Andrade said incremental production terms had attracted more than $3 billion to Block 15, adding roughly 200 million barrels of developable resources. “What we have in mind is to ensure production above one million bpd for the next 15 years,” he said.

Block 15 has produced more than 2.7 billion barrels over three decades. Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited operates with 36%, alongside Azule Angola Limited on 24%, Azule Angola BV on 18%, Equinor Angola Block 15 A.S. on 12% and Sonangol E&P, which marks 50 years in 2026, on 10%. ANPG is the concessionaire.