The Angolan National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels, (ANPG) has signed an agreement with French-Major Total to extend the company’s license over block 17 until 2045.
Total (40%) operates Block 17 in partnership with Equinor (23.33%), ExxonMobil (20%) and BP (16.67%), and will now also be joined by Sonangol, which takes a 5% share in the license. According to the extension contract, the national oil company will acquire another 5% of the block in 2036.
“This agreement shows evidence of Total and its partner’s determination to analyze the several short-term investment opportunities that have already been identified, with the intent of maintaining production above 400 thousand barrels per day until 2024. There is great expectation over further exploration activities in the surrounding areas to add new reserves to Block 17 and, more generally, the country,” ANPG’s Administrative Council President Paulino Jerónimo said in a statement.
Block 17 is home to the famous Girassol field, the biggest oil discovery in Angola’s over half a century old history of oil and gas exploration. Located in the Congo Basin, Block 17 holds estimated reserves of 2.9 billion barrels of oil and has a record of 17 discoveries in 20 drilled wells. According to Sonangol’s data, only 1,611 km2 of the block’s 4,928 km2 has been surveyed so far, leaving 67% of the acreage unexplored.
