During a pre-conference workshop ahead of this year’s Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) 2024 conference, S&P Global Commodity Insights Head of African Upstream Regional Research Team Justin Cochrane provided insight into key strategies for maximizing resource recovery while extending the viability of existing developments in Angola’s oil and gas sector.

“Block 15/06 is probably the best example of infrastructure-led development in Africa,” Cochrane stated, adding, “And what started out as infrastructure-led exploration, turned into a new development hub. Infrastructure-led exploration within the block has added more than $3 billion in net present value and is expected to double production.”

It was noted during the presentation that Angola’s infrastructure-led exploration strategy is set to support the development of new concessions as the country promotes exploration across both on- and offshore acreage. It was also noted that, in light of this new strategy, the Angolan government has implemented a series of regulatory measures to entice new players to join the upstream market, including the introduction of a six-year licensing round, which offers a total of 55 blocks for exploration.

During the presentation, Cochrane highlighted how seismic technology has improved significantly in the last ten years, with more than a decade having gone by since the last exploratory seismic survey in Angola’s offshore Agogo field. As such, Cochrane indicated how some of the fields already discovered in the country’s offshore, have the potential to be much larger than previously expected.

To date, 26 blocks have been awarded and a strong slate of exploration and production firms have entered the country. Currently, 11 blocks are available on permanent offer, five marginal fields are open while four onshore blocks are ready for investment. Beyond new concessions, Angola’s efforts to bring on additional reserves is underpinned by an incremental production initiative. Through a robust infrastructure-led exploration strategy combined with new incentives and fiscal policies, the initiative aims to expand enhanced recovery at producing fields.

The AOG 2024 pre-conference takes place today in Luanda, serving as a prelude to the main program on October 2-3. The pre-conference program features a series of technical workshops and presentations covering various aspects of the oil and gas value chain in Angola.