Oil and gas company Afentra, which this month suspended negotiations with potential buyers, is moving ahead with onshore and offshore exploration projects aimed at increasing production in Angola, its CEO Paul McDade said on Thursday, 21 May.
Significantly higher crude oil prices, driven by the war involving Iran and disruptions to exports through the Strait of Hormuz, are strengthening Afentra’s strategy in Angola, the second-largest crude oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to McDade.
The executive said the company expects to reach a final investment decision by the end of this year or early 2027 for the development of up to three discoveries in offshore Block 3/24, operated by Afentra.
“Our timeline is to try to reach final investment decision by the end of 2026 or early 2027. And again, our objective would be to achieve first oil by the end of 2027,” he told Reuters.
The block contains ten oil and gas discoveries, including reserves identified by TotalEnergies two decades ago that were never developed, and which are located near Afentra’s currently producing oil fields.
The company expects to receive by July the results from the Pacassa SW well, currently being drilled in Block 3/05, before beginning drilling of a second nearby well at Impala, off the Angolan coast.
“If we can identify around 50 million barrels of recoverable oil, that would represent a 50% increase in current reserves,” McDade said.
The CEO also highlighted prospects onshore in the Kwanza Basin, where the last exploration activity took place in the 1980s.
“We are evaluating the potential of the entire basin (…) our objective is to drill exploration wells by 2027,” he added.
