Angola’s Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis (ANPG) has handed out blocks onshore, including to Serinus Energy and Afentra.
The two companies won stakes in Kwanza Basin licences. ANPG also awarded licences in the Lower Congo Basin.
ANPG chose Serinus to operate the KON 13 block with a 55% stake. Effimax Energy was awarded 30% and Sonangol 15%.
The regulator awarded Afentra non-operated stakes in two blocks, 45% each in KON 19 and KON 15. It has partnered with Acrep and Enagol on the first, with 45% and 10% stakes respectively. On KON 15, Sonangol has a 40% stake and the role of operator, while 15% is still available.
Afentra CEO Paul McDade said the company was committed to working in Angola. The next step involves negotiating licences with ANPG.
“These licences would expand Afentra’s footprint in this attractive market and further diversify the portfolio with low-cost onshore blocks with significant potential that would complement our existing offshore portfolio, which is principally focused on low cost, long-life stable production and low-risk development assets,” McDade said.
The two blocks have “good signs” of a working petroleum system and contain wells that found light oil. There is only limited 2D seismic, Afentra said, but the areas are near legacy oilfields.
Acrep has stakes in a number of Angolan blocks, including Blocks 4/05, 1/14 and 17/06 in the deepwater, with Block 2/05 in the shallow water. Onshore it works on the Cabinda South and North blocks.
Serinus said it had submitted a bid to participate in the round in November 2023. KON 13 covers 1,011 square km and has 136 km of 2D seismic. A previous operator drilled a well on the area in 1969.
ANPG will provide formal notification to winners within the next few days.
Contract talks
It also awarded CON 2 to Etu Energias as operator with 50%, Effimax Energy 30% and Simples Oil with 20%. Etu Energias also took the role of operator in CON 8 with a 40% stake. Effimax and Simples have 30% and 20% stakes respectively while Enagol had 10%.
Etu Energias was previously Somoil. The company has been a keen acquirer of mature assets from the majors. It became the operator of CON 6 in September 2023.
Enagol won 10% stakes in CON 7 and KON 7. However, ANPG awarded no other interests in these licences.
ANPG has allocated 65 days for the negotiation of contracts, giving a deadline of March 25.
Corcel’s results in the Kwanza Basin’s KON 11 are likely to be encouraging for bidders.
Sonangol operates this block. At the end of 2023, Corcel said the Tobias-14 well were sufficiently good to move into an early production system (EPS) plan. Afentra’s KON 15 is next to KON 11.