By Wendell Roelf
CAPE TOWN, August 14 (Reuters) -Optimistic over Angola’s untapped gas potential, Azule Energy is considering another gas exploration well after leading the country’s first drilling campaign targeting gas and hitting success last month, the CEO told Reuters.
Angola expects gas production to rise more than 20% in the next five years as it targets higher exports to Europe and Asia and to meet growing domestic demand, while its oil output stagnates despite the country exiting OPEC.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest crude producer after Nigeria, Angola is pivoting towards natural gas to help drive an industrialisation programme based on favourable investment terms.
“Given that Angola has a couple of prolific basins, I can imagine that we will be able to find much more reserves of gas,” said Adriano Mongini, chief executive of Azule Energy, a joint venture between BP and Eni.
Responding to emailed questions, he said a second well could be drilled within two years and existing infrastructure close to the first gas discovery, Gajajeira-01, may aid its development.
Initial estimates show Gajajeira-01 exceeding one trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas and having up to 100 million barrels of condensate, a press statement said.
The latest government data showed natural gas exports totalled 1.35 million metric tons in the second quarter, up 19.1% from the first quarter. Liquefied natural gas accounted for most exports, with India and Spain the top two markets.
Gas revenues, however, are a fraction of Angola’s crude oil sales of $5.6 billion over the same period, as the oil export-reliant country also faces discontent over efforts to reduce domestic fuel subsidies.
Angola’s gas output was seen rising to 3,659 million standard cubic feet a day (MMSCFD) by 2030 from 2,973 MMSCFD this year, national oil and gas agency ANPG forecast, although the average this year might fall short, said some analysts.
Chevron’s Sanha Lean gas project and the Azule-led New Gas Consortium (NGC) will help lead higher output efforts, the government said.
“Development of (NGC’s) Quiluma and Maboqueiro fields, due to launch around end-2025, is the real litmus test for gas monetisation in Angola,” said Jimmy Boulter, an Enverus analyst.
Unlike gas, oil output will decline to just above 1 million barrels a day by 2027 from around 1.1 million bpd now, ANPG officials told Reuters, adding the reduced level could be held if investment and development plans are maintained.
Angola anticipates $60 billion in oil and gas investments over the next five years, with 23 exploration wells expected to be drilled, 11 of them offshore.
Recent projects, including Azule’s 120,000 bpd Agogo FPSO that started producing oil in July and TotalEnergies’ 60,000 bpd bump have temporarily boosted Angola’s oil profile.
“We expect post-2030 oil production to decline significantly,” David Thomson, a Welligence analyst, said.
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf, editing by Alex Lawler, Nina Chestney and Hugh Lawson)
