Angola Launches Licence Round

Angola has launched its six-year licensing cycle with 10 high-potential blocks in the Namibe and Benguela Basins, it said June 5. They are Blocks 11, 12, 13, 27, 28, 29, 41, 42 and 43 in the Namibe Basin, and Block 10 in the Benguela Basin.

The country wants to reverse the decline in oil output and build refineries to reduce imported products, and it has set up a new upstream regulator to manage the task: the National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG).

ANPG will embark on a roadshow in September taking in Houston, London and Dubai before opening the tendering process in October. "Our message to the global oil industry is simple: Angola is open for business. We are ready to seriously engage with existing and new players, be they international oil companies, national oil companies, independents and mid-sized operators and get them to explore in Angola,” said ANPG head Paulino Jeronimo.

Separately, the ANPG is also launching Angola’s first-ever marginal fields round. “Our new regulatory framework provides tax incentives for the exploration of marginal fields,” said Jeronimo. “Over the years, Angola has made several discoveries deemed too uneconomical for development. Our new fiscal and contractual terms are focused on incentivising the exploration and production of such reserves for both African and international medium-sized E&P companies."

The six-year licensing cycle is the first public auction in Angola since the pre-salt layer blocks auction of 2011, and the first of a series of licensing rounds that will see as many as 55 blocks put up for public bidding or direct negotiations by 2025. It follows the president's strategy to boost exploration, maximise reserves replacement and ultimately increase national production of oil and gas, ANPG said.

The strategy maps the auctioning of 31 blocks under public bidding in 2019, 2020 and 2023. It is also the first to take place under the oversight of the ANPG.