Azule Energy is weighing the possibility of drilling another gas exploration well after leading Angola’s first gas-focused drilling campaign and striking success last month, CEO Adriano Mongini told Reuters.
The move comes as Angola anticipates boosting gas production by more than 20% over the next five years, aiming to increase exports to Europe and Asia while meeting rising domestic demand, even as its oil output remains stagnant despite the country’s recent exit from OPEC.
As Sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest crude producer after Nigeria, Angola is increasingly pivoting toward natural gas to support its industrialisation drive, backed by what it calls favourable investment terms.
“Given that Angola has a couple of prolific basins, I can imagine that we will be able to find much more reserves of gas,” Mongini said. Azule Energy is a joint venture between BP and Eni.
Don’t Miss This:
Angola Makes Major Offshore Gas Discovery In Landmark Exploration Milestone
For now, gas revenues remain far smaller than oil earnings, with crude sales bringing in $5.6 billion over the same period.
The oil-export-dependent nation is also grappling with public discontent over efforts to cut domestic fuel subsidies.
The country’s national oil and gas agency, ANPG, forecasts gas output to climb from 2,973 million standard cubic feet a day (MMSCFD) this year to 3,659 MMSCFD by 2030, though some analysts believe the 2025 average may fall short.
Chevron’s Sanha Lean Gas project and Azule’s New Gas Consortium (NGC) are expected to play central roles in meeting these targets.
“Development of (NGC’s) Quiluma and Maboqueiro fields, due to launch around end-2025, is the real litmus test for gas monetisation in Angola,” said Enverus analyst Jimmy Boulter. Oil, however, tells a different story.
Output is set to drop from about 1.1 million barrels per day now to just above 1 million by 2027, according to ANPG officials, though they say this level could be sustained if investment and development plans stay on track.
Angola expects $60 billion in oil and gas investments over the next five years, including 23 planned exploration wells, 11 of them offshore.
Some recent projects have temporarily lifted production, including Azule’s Agogo FPSO, which began producing 120,000 barrels per day in July, and a 60,000 bpd boost from TotalEnergies.
Still, the longer-term trend is down. “We expect post-2030 oil production to decline significantly,” said David Thomson, an analyst at Welligence.
Don’t Miss This:
Angola Recovers $200 Million Collateral From JPMorgan After Bond Prices Rebound
Image Credit: Energy Capital & Power
