Angola’s new regulator Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis (ANPG) has held talks with various producers about supporting future production from Angola LNG.
The agency has held a meeting with Angola LNG, Sonangol P&P, BP, Cabinda Gulf Oil Co. (CABGOC), Eni Angola and Total E&P in the process of working on a commercial agreement to explore, develop and produce gas. An agreement was signed by ANPG’s trading director Hermenegildo Buila and the gas consortium members. Action is required in order to bridge a projected shortfall of feedstock in 2023.
The contract covers the first step towards a risk service agreement and for oil production at Quiluma and Maboqueiro, ANPG said. This preliminary meeting also covered the start of a cost-sharing agreement.
The agreement will be signed off by ANPG chairman Paulino Jeronimo and the oil and gas producers in the next few days.
“In the first instance, additional supply for [Angola LNG] will come from existing discoveries. This agreement with the ANPG sets out the terms by which the new consortium (comprised of the partners in ALNG) will develop some of these existing discoveries, the first of which will be Quiluma and Maboqueiro,” Wood Mackenzie senior research analyst Adam Pollard told Energy Voice. “In the longer term, there are some other non-associated gas discoveries that could be developed, or new exploration could turn up volumes.”
Angola LNG has production capacity of 5.2 million tonnes per year and 63,000 barrels per day of liquids. It runs predominantly on associated gas from the country’s offshore, although with some non-associated resources, such as Quiluma. The facility is in Soyo, in Angola’s north.
Pollard went on to say shortcomings in contractual terms had slowed development on Quiluma and Maboqueiro, in Block 2. “This new agreement, made possible by last year’s changes to the law, is a very positive step. The new law also allows other operators to explore for and develop gas on their licences, so there is now an incentive to target gas prospects.”
Chevron’s CABGOC has a 36.4% stake in the plant, while Sonagas has 22.8%, and Total, Eni and BP have 13.6% each. Chevron’s Mafumeira Sul project started up in 2017, with gas going via the Congo River Crossing pipeline to Angola LNG. The liquefaction facility also benefited from the start of production from the Kaombo project, in Block 32, with associated gas flowing onshore via a pipeline.
Angola is taking steps to shore up its future production in the face of declining oil output. The country launched a bid round recently, holding roadshows in various locations, and has struck preliminary deals with companies such as ExxonMobil in the Namibe Basin and with Chevron on Block 34, in the Lower Congo Basin.
Angolan Minister of Mineral Resources and Petroleum Diamantino Azevedo visited ANPG last week and was briefed on the agency’s strategic plan. The topic of how to tackle production decline was discussed, with the minister saying there needed to be a more “proactive approach” for oil and gas exploration.