BP and ExxonMobil signed an agreement with Sonangol in order to develop the Platina field in deepwater Block 18, offshore Angola. Besides, the companies decided to prolong the production license for Greater Plutonio project on Block 18 to 2032. Sonangol will take 8% participating interest in this block. Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sonangol Carlos Saturnino and BP group chief executive Bob Dudley signed the agreements in Luanda on Monday.
Oil reserves in Angola’s oil sector have decreased, and producing fields have matured. Diamantino Azevedo, Angola’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Petroleum says that the exploration works are essential to maintain the level of production. Carlos Saturnino states that the agreements will provide more investment in Angolan oil industry, increase production from Block 18. Bob Dudley adds that this step will extend production from Greater Plutonio and increase Angolan oil production in general.
The ultimate investment decision for the Platina field development is to be made in 2021-2022. The prolonged license will make future production from the Greater Plutonio fields and from Platina possible.
BP and Sonangol have also signed 2 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) concerning perspective access and exploration offshore Angola. With the first MOU BP and Sonangol will continue discussing exploration in Blocks 31 and 18, will start discussing Blocks 46 and 47 exploration and look at the perspective of Block 18/15 exploration. With the second MOU the companies will discuss financing and construction of a terminal and storage facility at Barra do Dande in Bengo province.
Independently, Carlos Saturnino and Andre Kostelnik, General Manager of ExxonMobil in Angola, signed a MOU with the perspective of signing the risk service contracts for Blocks 30, 44, and 45 in the Namibe Basin.
Oil and Gas major companies pay a lot of attention to Africa nowadays. That’s the reason why we highlight this topic on the second day of the Exploration & Production Offshore Congress Hub (EPOCH 2019) at the plenary session on West Africa as an Emerging Market for Offshore Oil&Gas. Leading companies will provide their insights into the region’s potential and present new projects. The event is taking place in Greece, Thessaloniki, September 16-17, 2019.
Source: OffshoreEnergyToday.com
