The multinational ExxonMobil on Wednesday said that it has already invested $50 million in the seismic evaluation phase of the deepwater blocks in Namibe, whose risk contracts were signed on Wednesday with the Angolan national concessionaire and Sonangol.
The three risk service contracts that the National Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) signed on Wednesday with ExxonMobil and Sonangol Pesquisa & Produção (exploration + production) make it possible to increase the offshore exploration area by a further 17,800 square kilometres.
The agreements will allow the identification of the potential of hydrocarbon resources in the Namibe basin, a maritime area of Angola still unexplored.
General manager of ExxonMobil in Angola, Andre Kostelnik, said “The first phase of exploration, a period of three years, was to acquire and evaluate seismic data, the work was done closely with the concessionaire and estimated expenses are in the order of $50 million”.
The deepwater blocks 30, 44 and 45 are located between 50 and 100 kilometres off the Angolan coast, in a water depth ranging from 1,500 to over 3,000 meters.
According to ANPG president, Paulino Jerónimo, after the seismic evaluation, the processing of the acquired data (the interpretation) and then the drilling of the wells will be done.
“Only then will we know whether or not there is success in the block. This is the first phase and you can see where the potential is, but it does not discover the oil, what discovers the oil is the well,” he told the journalists.
The exploration work is up to the operator, in the case of ExxonMobil which has a 60% participation in the block, with Sonangol Pesquisa & Produção the remaining 40%.
“At this stage, we have an agreement in which Exxon will invest on behalf of Sonangol and, in case of discovery, Sonangol will pay the exploration and development costs with oil produced,” Paulino Jerónimo said.
The Minister of Mineral Resources and Petroleum, Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, pointed out, for his part, that the oil activity in Angola has not been stopped, highlighting the effort of the sector during the pandemic phase.
“There was a part that had to be restricted, another even suspended, essentially drilling, which was the most affected,” he said, adding that the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic caused production to drop a little.
According to Paulino Jerónimo, more contracts will soon be signed with other operators for the Namibe, Kwanza and Congo basins.
