Page 8 - AfrOil Week 29 2021

AfrOil INVESTMENT AfrOil

Nine blocks were included in Angola’s onshore licensing round (Image: ANPG)

The roster of companies participating in the Eni, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies. The auc-
licensing round does not include any interna- tions were designed to attract small and medi-
tional majors. um-sized companies, especially local operators,
Hermenegildo Buila, ANPG’s director of while BP and the other IOCs “are focused on
negotiations, said last week that he was not con- another horizon – offshore, for offshore blocks,”
cerned by the absence of companies such as BP, he commented. ™

PERFORMANCE
Angolan oil production sinks to

lowest level in 17 years in June

ANGOLA ANGOLA’S National Oil, Gas and Biofuels of the country’s main production sites – offshore
Agency (ANPG) reported last week that the fields such as Plutonio, Pazflor and Girassol –
country’s oil production levels had dropped to have started to mature over the last few years,
a 17-year low in June. and drilling declined precipitously last year
In a statement, the concessionaire reported in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
that Angolan fields had yielded nearly 32.192mn pandemic.
barrels last month, equivalent to slightly more This trend has caused Angolan output to
than 1.073mn barrels per day. In May, by con- average 1.14mn bpd in the first half of this year,
trast, the country extracted almost 34.888mn down by nearly 40% since 2016, Platts said.
barrels, equivalent to more than 1.125mn bpd, Nevertheless, drilling activity is picking up
it said. again, with international majors such as BP, Eni,
ANPG’s figures were at odds with those ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies returning to
published in OPEC’s most recent Monthly work in the offshore zone. According to Platts,
Oil Market Report (MOMR). That document, this uptick may cause Angolan oil output to rise
which was released last week, put Angolan crude by late 2021 and early 2022, especially in light of
production at 1.115mn bpd in June, up from TotalEnergies’ recent move to launch the Zinia
1.079mn bpd in May. Phase 2 oil project.
The reasons for the discrepancy were not In related news, Angola’s Ministry of Finance
immediately clear, but it should be noted that reported last week that the country had exported
OPEC’s figures are based on data from second- slightly more than 33.401mn barrels of oil in
ary sources. June, equivalent to around 1.113mn bpd, for an
In any event, S&P Global Platts pointed out average price of $69.48 per barrel. These exports
that Angola was not producing the maximum generated $2.32bn in revenue for the sellers and
volumes permitted under the OPEC+ group’s nearly AOA572.95bn ($893.18mn) in tax reve-
quota regime. Under that regime, the Afri- nue for the Angolan government, the ministry
can state is supposed to extract no more than said.
1.298mn bpd, it noted. In May, by contrast, Angola exported around
Despite the differences between ANPG data 31.741mn barrels of crude, equivalent to around
and OPEC calculations, Angola is in a general 1.024mn bpd, and the average price paid was
sense experiencing a decline in oil output. Many $62.62 per barrel. ™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 29 21•July•2021